


Like You (Only Sweeter)

by silver_etoile



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arranged Marriage, M/M, student!Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-21
Updated: 2013-05-21
Packaged: 2017-12-12 14:13:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/812488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_etoile/pseuds/silver_etoile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Arthur’s impending marriage to Elena, and Uther breathing down his neck about the upcoming company merger, the stress seems insurmountable, but then Arthur meets Merlin, a children’s party magician who throws a wrench in all his plans. Torn between duty and desire, Arthur is left with a choice to make, but will it be the right one?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like You (Only Sweeter)

The intercom buzzed just as Arthur set aside the contract for the upcoming merger on top of the ever-growing pile on his desk. His coffee mug had already left a stain on the first paper but it was too late to worry about that.

Rubbing his face, he scrubbed at his tired eyes as Gwen’s voice crackled through the speaker.

“Your sister is on line one.”

“Half-sister,” he mumbled to himself before pressing the button and saying, “Thanks, Gwen.”

The little light on the phone blinked repeatedly until he bit back his groan and picked up the receiver.

“M—” he started to say, but she cut him off before he even had the chance.

“Don’t even think of skipping out on the party tomorrow,” Morgana snapped and Arthur squeezed the bridge of his nose, willing himself to have patience. 

“You called me,” he reminded her, though that didn’t seem to make a difference, especially considering he had spent the whole last hour coming up with excuses to get out of his niece’s sixth birthday party. The prospect of spending hours with twenty sticky children wasn’t his exact idea of fun. 

“Sophie Anne is expecting you,” Morgana replied as though he hadn’t said anything. Arthur highly doubted his niece expected anything from him other than a lavish gift which he had yet to buy. He honestly hardly had time to go shopping for children’s presents in addition to all the merger work and planning some ridiculous engagement party that Elena had in mind.

He was lucky if he had ten minutes to himself these days between Elena and his father.

“I’ll be there,” he assured her, although it was the last thing he wanted to do. He had thought, given that they no longer lived at home and hadn’t for several years, that he wouldn’t have to have anything to do with Morgana anymore. Somehow, though, she’d managed to stay in his life, only making things worse most of the time.

“Are you bringing Elena?”

“Yes.” Arthur tried not to sigh audibly, twisting the ring Elena insisted he wore despite the fact that they wouldn’t be married for months. His father fully approved of the gesture - not surprising since he had orchestrated the whole thing.

“Well, tell her to be on her best behavior.”

At least there was one thing he and Morgana agreed on, though he would never say it to her face.

Instead, he forced a pleasant smile onto his face despite that she couldn’t see him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and hung up the phone before she could demand anything else.

With a puff of air, he sunk his head into his hands. He couldn’t even begin to think of the party, not when his desk was littered with pages about the merger and his father would poke his head in every five minutes to make sure he was doing everything right.

Leaving university and coming right into the Pendragon Corporation had been the logical step, the next step in his life so far paved out neatly for him by his father. It also meant he had no breaks from work and was saddled with most of the responsibility in the merger. Uther said it was meant to help him show his capability to the other employees, but Arthur suspected it was a test. Uther always liked to test him in one way or another, to show his loyalty to the company.

He was determined not to fail.

In a last-ditch attempt to feel more organized as the day waned outside his seventh story window, he swept the papers into a pile on the corner of his desk. He wiped the layer of dust off his computer screen and tossed the collection of pens back into the chipped mug. The calendar on the wall had the next day, Saturday, circled with Sophie Anne’s birthday written on it. Gwen must have written it down.

His back cracked as he stood up from his black rolling chair and rounded the desk to the door. His office, despite having a window, was small compared to his father’s, crammed with a desk and two chairs. His degrees hung on the wall but they never seemed to make him feel accomplished when he looked at them.

Swinging on his jacket, he left his office. Gwen’s desk was just outside, perfectly organized with a bright stack of post-it notes in the corner. The rest of the office was an accomplishment in beige, from the walls to the floor. 

“Sir,” Gwen said the minute he stepped from the office, her dark, curly hair bouncing as she rose from her seat and pulled a bag out from under the desk. She held it out to him. “It’s a first-edition copy of the _Velveteen Rabbit_ , for Sophie Anne.”

Sometimes even Arthur could be surprised as he peered into the bag. “You’re the best assistant, Gwen.”

She smiled. “I know.”

Turning, she resumed her seat, sweeping her flowery skirt underneath her and crossing her legs. Arthur buttoned his jacket, holding the bag between his teeth.

“Go home, Gwen,” he said as he got it on. “Someone should enjoy their weekend.”

Gwen’s sympathetic smile wasn’t unexpected as she shut down her computer. “I’m sure it won’t be that terrible. It’s only a few hours. And Elena will be with you.”

It was a credit to Gwen’s character that she actually found Elena pleasant, so much so that Arthur couldn’t bring himself to point out the obvious, but instead, he just nodded and smiled.

“Yes, Elena will be there,” he agreed.

Gwen pulled on her jacket and flipped her hair from under the collar. “You’ll be just fine,” she assured him, and Arthur desperately wanted it to be true, but he couldn’t say anything to the fact, so he merely smiled.

“Get out of here, Gwen,” he said instead. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Have a great weekend,” she said as she left, and Arthur took a few minutes to lock the office and trail her to the elevator, by which time she was long gone.

As he rode it down, his phone vibrated with a text in his pocket, probably from Elena. Instead of checking it, he clasped his hands together and hummed the theme song to Gilligan’s Island.

*

“We’re only going to stay half an hour maximum,” Arthur muttered to Elena as they stepped through the door into the large foyer, colourful balloons looking completely out of place in the stark white entrance way, like a small museum. Morgana kept a pristine house.

Elena didn’t seem to be listening, though, lighting up at the sight of the ribbons strung along the walls. This was going to be a long afternoon. He clasped her hand in his, though, to keep her from running off and becoming one of the children that he could already hear from the sitting room.

“Arthur, Elena.” Morgana appeared, impeccably dressed in a black lace gown that had to be entirely too revealing for a children’s party. Her long, black hair cascaded over her shoulders and she had a smile on her face as she approached them, air kissing Elena and barely embracing Arthur. Arthur handed over the gift Gwen had bought, and Morgana took it. “The rest of the guests are in the salon.”

“Do you think they’ll have cake?” Elena asked, pushing aside a blond curl and looking around eagerly.

Morgana’s house towered over them, a large manor just outside the city. There were horses in the back that Morgana never bothered to ride, and her husband was hardly ever home. Arthur thought Morgana preferred it that way.

As he led the way through the house to the salon in the back, Arthur reminded himself to be a polite guest. Even if he and Morgana had never quite seen eye to eye on many issues, especially on how Uther chose to run their lives, he could survive one afternoon. Morgana had revolted at a young age, moving out as soon as she could and keeping Uther on a tight leash afterwards.

Elena exclaimed giddily as they entered the room where the children and adult guests were gathered. Morgana never skipped out on an opportunity to throw a party, be it for a six year old or otherwise.

Sophie Anne was easily distinguishable from the other children with her jet black hair, just like her mother’s, and pale skin, and not least for the dress so sleek it could belong to an adult. No ruffles adorned it, no garish colours that might be present on any other child’s birthday dress. It was sophisticated, just like everything else in the house.

“Uncle Arthur!” she cried as she spotted him, darting over and pausing before holding out a tiny hand to shake his. What was Morgana teaching her? Arthur thought as he took her hand and smiled at her.

“Happy birthday,” he told her, watching the smile spread across her face, a tooth missing at the front. 

“What did you bring me?”

“Now, now, Sophie Anne,” Morgana interrupted, entering in behind them, two glasses of wine in her hand, which she handed to Arthur and Elena. “It’s not polite to ask such questions.”

“Yes, Mum,” Sophie Anne replied immediately, clasping her hands behind her back, rocking slightly and smiling up at Arthur. 

“Go play with your friends,” Morgana instructed her, and Sophie Anne turned without a word. Morgana turned to Arthur and Elena with the same smile that always seemed cold to Arthur. “She can be such a handful.”

Arthur wasn’t sure they were thinking about the same child as he watched Sophie Anne chatting to her friends. If he ever had kids, he would hope they were half as well-behaved as her.

The thought of kids made his stomach churn, though, and he forced himself to focus on what Elena was saying.

“…Wanted a spring wedding, but Arthur made a fuss about it being cliché, so we’ve moved it to October.”

“Yes, Arthur always did want to be unique.”

Again, Arthur didn’t like the way Morgana’s smile never met her eyes. He tried to remember when that had changed, but the exact moment escaped him.

“Where is Cenred?” Arthur asked abruptly, watching Morgana’s face for a change, but nothing flickered as she raised her glass to her lips. 

“Business trip to France,” she replied. “Such a shame it had to fall this week.”

“Yes,” he murmured into his glass. 

“You two enjoy yourselves,” Morgana said a moment later, glancing around the room. “Hors d’oeuvres are on the table. There will be a magician later.”

“Ooh,” Elena said excitedly, but Arthur gulped down a bit too much wine and coughed.

*

Arthur escaped to the kitchen somewhere between Elena spotting the build-your-own cupcake station and Morgana cornering him to talk about the merger and what Uther was planning with it.

There he found his old Uni football mate picking the olive out of his glass and sucking the alcohol off it.

“Last I heard, you were shacking up with Gwaine,” Percy said, picking his teeth with the toothpick and flicking it into the shiny trash bin by the door. “What happened? He even more narcissistic than you?”

Arthur frowned as he glanced up from where he’d been checking his reflection in a brass pan that hung on the wall of the immaculate kitchen. He swept his sandy blond hair away from his eyes, attempting dignity after Percy’s remark, but Percy just laughed. 

“And now you’re engaged to that blond muppet out there. Does your dad just completely ignore that you like blokes?”

Arthur didn’t defend Elena being called a muppet, although it might have been a bit harsh. She had always reminded Arthur more of Goldilocks with her curls and excessive naivety. His mind turned instead to the conversation he’d had with Uther a few months back.

_“Gwaine is simply not suitable for an heir to PenCo,” Uther said, tugging on his driving gloves and rummaging for his keys as Arthur stood obediently before him. “He’s irresponsible. He drinks. He’s a boor, Arthur.”_

_But he was pretty, Arthur thought before checking himself and focusing on his father moving around the office, getting ready to head to a meeting._

_“Now, Elena, on the other hand—”_

_“Is a woman,” Arthur interrupted, barely flinching at the severe glare Uther shot him for interrupting._

_“Is the daughter of Mr. Godwyn, and with the merger coming up, joining the two companies in marriage is the best way to show a united front to our competitors.”_

_“But we barely know each other,” Arthur pressed, hoping his father would somehow see how nonsensical this plan was._

_“You’ll have years for that.” Uther grabbed his umbrella and smiled tightly at Arthur. “So it’s settled. We’ll plan for a spring wedding.”_

Arthur sighed, eying Percy’s drink and wondering where he had found the hard liquor for it. He could use a good, strong drink.

“Uther does what he thinks is best,” Arthur replied finally.

Percy snorted but said nothing. A part of Arthur agreed with him, knowing that he would never be happy with Elena, but there wasn’t much he could do about it at this point. The wedding plans were already in motion and he was slated to take a series of what would surely be simpering engagement photos next week in Hyde park. 

“There you are!” Elena bounced in, curls flying, and if Arthur hadn’t known better, he would have thought she was the older sister of one of the children. “The magician is here!”

She grabbed Arthur’s hand and tugged him away from Percy. Percy gave him a mock salute as he was yanked from the kitchen and back to the salon.

The children appeared to have doubled in number now and they were all gathered together in front of the hearth. Elena clapped her hands excitedly and Arthur bit back a groan. As a child, he’d had enough clowns and magic shows that they generally left him feeling completely unimpressed.

Morgana stepped in front of the children, one look silencing any excited babble. She cleared her throat and tossed back her hair.

“Remember to be polite,” she instructed them as though she was talking to a tour in a wine cellar. “And welcome Merlin the Magician.”

Merlin, Arthur thought with a chuckle as a man a few years younger than him stepped up in front of the children, a wide smile on his face, and something stirred deep inside Arthur. Merlin and Arthur. It had a nice ring to it.

No. He shook his head sharply, hand tightening over Elena’s. 

That didn’t stop him from appreciating Merlin as Merlin began his show, pulling flowers out of thin air and handing them to Sophie Anne, who flushed bright red at his grin. Arthur could see why.

Merlin was beautiful, and not beautiful in the traditional sense that people tended to categorize Arthur as. He was a dark pretty, with dark dark brown hair and clear blue eyes that shone brighter as the children laughed at his tricks.

“Isn’t he good?” Elena whispered a few minutes later as Merlin pulled a white rabbit out of a hat.

“Yeah,” Arthur murmured, his eyes on Merlin’s hands, his long fingers, and wondering what else they could do.

He blinked a second later as he realized Merlin’s eyes were on him, but Merlin looked away.

“Now, I need a volunteer from the audience,” he said, casting around at the children all jumping with their hands in the air. “How about the birthday girl?” He pulled Sophie Anne up, and Arthur thought it might have been the first time he’d seen her shy with anyone as she tugged down the hem of her dress and twirled back and forth in place. “So you’ve been good this year, haven’t you?” he asked.

Sophie Anne glanced up first at her mother and then nodded at Merlin.

“Well, that’s good! Wouldn’t want a naughty birthday girl or else I might find some coal back here.” He reached behind her ear, pretending to be tugging something out. “Oh, I think it’s stuck. Come on, kids, I need some help.”

The kids cheered him on as he pulled and grunted, at last stumbling back with a five pound banknote in his hand.

“Look what I found! You must have been a really good girl!” He handed Sophie Anne the note and flashed her another winning smile. “Wait!” He caught her before she started to turn, grabbing something from behind her back. “You’ve got a treasure trove in there, Sophie Anne!” 

Arthur watched the children’s eyes light up as Merlin came back with a handful of lollies and handed them out. He smiled to himself when Merlin finished and the children all clambered to talk to him.

“Alright,” Morgana interrupted finally, drawing them away from Merlin, who looked content to chat with them all day. “It’s time for the horseback rides.”

In a split second, the children abandoned Merlin and made a beeline for the door. Elena was right along with them but Arthur hung back, watching Merlin begin to pack up his things.

“That was a quite an interesting show,” he said finally, and Merlin glanced up from where he was bent over his bag. It took a great deal of self-control not to stare at Merlin’s ass, but Arthur managed it. The press of Elena’s hand was still warm in his palm, and he clenched his fingers against it.

“Oh, thanks.” Merlin’s face lit up with another wide grin. That same feeling stirred in Arthur’s chest but he pushed it away. “Did you want a lolly too?”

Arthur smiled despite himself, crossing his arms over his chest. “No, thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” Merlin grabbed one out of his bag, and inside, Arthur could see that the sack was filled entirely with lollipops. Merlin unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. “So you’re a parent?”

“No,” Arthur said quickly, shaking his head. “No, I’m Sophie Anne’s uncle.”

“Well, she’s a great kid.”

Arthur didn’t bother agreeing. “Is this your day job?”

Merlin paused, a small smile curling the corner of his mouth as he inspected Arthur, taking in the impeccable suit he had chosen for the occasion since anything less would have been frowned upon by Morgana. Arthur knew what he was thinking - the same thing Gwaine had said when they broke up - that he was a posh stuck-up ass like his father.

“Just doing it to get me through my postgrad,” Merlin replied finally, sucking on the lolly, and Arthur thought that he really shouldn’t do that. “And I like the kids.”

“Oh yeah, kids are great.”

Merlin must have heard the hesitation in Arthur’s voice because he laughed.

“You don’t have to like them. That’s my job.”

Arthur smiled back but immediately wondered what he was doing. Here he was flirting with Merlin when Elena was just outside. Just once he didn’t want to have to think of his responsibilities, especially not when Merlin popped the lolly out of his mouth, lips red and shiny, and ran his tongue over them.

He had to get a grip.

“It was good to meet you,” he said abruptly, clearly surprising Merlin, whose eyebrows furrowed slightly. “I should get back to the…” He trailed off, gesturing vaguely towards the back lawn.

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed, though, with an easy smile. “I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”

“Yes, thank you,” Arthur said jerkily. He turned from Merlin and passed Morgana at the door. She leaned against the frame and merely smiled at him as he passed, the warmth never quite reaching her eyes.

*

The Pendragon Corporation had been around for over a hundred years, as Uther liked to tell Arthur quite frequently. They were the number one security system company in the whole of Britain. They provided everything from simple security cameras to high-tech systems in every crevice of the house. The upcoming merger with Godwyn meant adding in new technologies to heighten their levels of service.

They had a reputation to uphold and Arthur, as he was due to inherit the business once Uther retired (if that ever happened. Arthur was beginning to doubt he would ever let go), was responsible for it.

It was that thought that ran through his head as he sat alongside Uther in the conference room, listening to Leon’s talk about yearly sales goals and customer satisfaction.

The notepad in front of him, the one supposed to be filled with notes and questions, was half-full of doodles of a faceless man alongside drawings of concentric circles that Gwen had told Arthur were supposed to help release stress. He had scoffed at the idea but his paper was now covered with them and he barely realized he was doing it until Uther leaned over and muttered in his ear.

“I didn’t send you to Oxford so you could doodle during briefings.”

“Sorry, Father.” Arthur set down the pen, forcing himself to focus on Leon, but his mind kept wandering.

He thought of Elena, Elena’s father, and the look Uther had given him when he had balked at the idea of marrying her. He had tried to argue that he was too young to marry, but at twenty-six, he had to admit that even that wasn’t the best excuse he could have come up with. Uther had dismissed the real reason – that he had almost no interest in women, especially one like Elena, who, despite her friendly nature and general disposition, had to be missing a few screws and who got excited at the idea of cake.

At the party, Elena had spent most of the time chatting to the children rather than the adults. Not that that was completely unacceptable, but Arthur had thought that if he was going to be forced to be married, his father could have at least chosen someone with more ambition than going to Corsica on their honeymoon.

“Do you agree, Arthur?”

Arthur blinked as all the eyes at the table swiveled to him and Uther in particular waited for his response.

“Er,” he said, casting a glance around the table, and at the other end, Owain nodded imperceptibly. “Yes, I agree.”

“Good,” Uther said, clapping his shoulder. “I’ll call Godwyn with the details.”

Chairs scraped as everyone rose, and Arthur caught Leon’s arm as he passed. “What did I just agree to?”

Leon frowned, confused. “The official announcement of the merger and your and Elena’s marriage tomorrow. The date’s been set for October sixth.”

Arthur felt a swoop in his stomach but he nodded calmly and released Leon’s arm. “Of course. I’m just going to nip back to my office before lunch.”

“Sure,” Leon agreed, and Arthur took a second to reconcile himself before leaving the empty conference room. The Pendragon offices took up the whole of the seventh floor. From his office, Arthur could just see the tip top of the London Bridge. The carpet in all the conference rooms was red with golden chairs and the dragon emblem hand-stitched onto every one. Uther spared no expense when it came to appearances.

Down the hall lined with photos of predecessors, Arthur headed to his office, stepping around the doorframe to where Gwen’s desk sat outside his door.

“Oh,” Gwen said, halfway up from her chair as he entered. “I was just about to go on lunch unless you need me to stay.”

“No, no,” Arthur said, secretly grateful that he might have a moment alone. He paused, watching Gwen glance at the clock anxiously. “Going to lunch with Lance?”

A blush coloured Gwen’s cheeks at the mention of her boyfriend, and Arthur still found it quaint after all these months that she blushed at the mere mention of him. He never felt that way about Elena. Any mention of her made him want to pinch the bridge of his nose and hold back a sigh.

“Yes, Lance is coming with a friend.” She seemed to force back the flush as she reached for a pile of letters on her desk. “The post came.”

Spam mail, Arthur thought as he filtered through the envelopes. 

“Jesus, Gwen,” came a voice from the door behind Arthur, “you didn’t say you worked at the poshest building in London. I bet the door handles are made of gold.”

“Hello, Merlin,” Gwen replied, completely ignoring his commentary, and Arthur’s head snapped up, eyes locked on the man standing in the doorway to his office.

Merlin looked the same as he remembered, though it had only been a few days since he’d seen him. He saw the flicker of recognition in Merlin’s eyes.

“Where’s Lance?”

Merlin waved off down the hall. “He’s holding open the elevator for some people.”

Gwen sighed fondly. “I’ll go find him.”

She left without bothering to introduce Arthur, not that he needed it. Merlin watched her down the hall, craning his neck until she had to be gone. Turning back, he smiled at Arthur, who hadn’t moved, fingers clenched over the letters in his hand.

“Arthur,” Merlin said, and a shiver ran down Arthur’s back at the way it rolled off his tongue. “Arthur Pendragon. Heir to the Pendragon Corporation throne.”

Arthur forced himself to throw the letters on the desk as if he wasn’t actually restraining himself from checking Merlin out from head to toe and inviting him out for a drink.

“When you say it like that, I sound like an ass.”

“Nah, just a prat.” Merlin’s grin widened. 

“You didn’t seem to think I was a prat the other day.”

Merlin shrugged. “Didn’t know who you were then. I just thought you were another of those estate-owning clot poles with stables and giant libraries.”

“Is that any better?” Arthur wrinkled his nose at the thought. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for people to assume he was a rich asshole. “I’ll have you know that my flat is quite simple. No stables or libraries.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Maybe I’ll just have to show you some time,” Arthur said without thinking. It came so naturally, and with Merlin, he couldn’t seem to help himself.

Merlin licked his lips slowly, eyes crinkled from his smile, and Arthur got the feeling he didn’t mind being hit on so blatantly at all, or else he found Arthur amusing.

“Merlin!” Gwen’s voice came down the hall. “Are you coming?”

“Be right there!” Merlin called back, eyes never leaving Arthur, even as Arthur stuck out a hand automatically.

Merlin took it after a second, shaking it firmly.

“It was good to see you again,” Arthur said, switching abruptly back into business mode, which seemed always to be his default setting, even around gorgeous guys with crystal clear blue eyes. 

“Yeah,” Merlin agreed, his fingers trailing against Arthur’s palm a few seconds too long before he pulled his hand away. “You too.”

As he left, Arthur dropped his hand, clenching a fist over the tingling on his palm. Shaking his head, he forced himself to turn and leave thoughts of Merlin and his smile behind.

*

Arthur’s flat was, in fact, quite modest, at least compared to the home he had grown up in. 

Opening the door, he stepped inside and tossed his keys onto the knee-height table that he always managed to trip over after a night out. The door swung shut behind him and he pulled off his jacket, glad to sink into the sofa and push aside a layer of pillows that he hadn’t picked out.

He had picked out the flat - after his father’s approval, and it had been Uther who hired an interior decorator for the place, saying that there was no way his son would live in a squalid flat. The living area had too much furniture, too much furniture that he wasn’t supposed to sit on or use except for it to look nice. Mostly, he just used the sofa and watched the telly when he had enough time to sit down and relax.

Sinking down, he sighed loudly into the empty flat, glad to be alone. It wasn’t often that he got time to himself. Lately, Uther had been breathing down his neck over every single detail relating to the merger and the impending wedding. The thought had him reaching into his pocket and turning off his mobile. He just needed some time alone.

Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the couch and tried to clear his mind. Morgana said it helped relieve stress, but he suspected she only did it to manipulate Cenred into doing her bidding.

He didn’t want to think of Morgana, though, and he tried to focus on something else. The wedding planning had begun, and as much as he didn’t want to be involved, he got the feeling that wouldn’t be the case. A wedding planner had been hired, though Arthur doubted Elena had been involved in that decision. She was more concerned with if she’d be able to sleep in on her wedding day.

If only those were Arthur’s only concerns. 

Elena’s face morphed as he sat there with his eyes closed, letting the warmth from the radiator wash over him. For spring, it was still relatively chilly out most days, but flowers and trees had started to bud, turning the grey city into something softer. 

The pastels melted into the bright colours of the balloons at Sophie Anne’s birthday party. Pinks and greens and blues. The blue was almost the same colour as Merlin’s eyes, Arthur thought vaguely, Merlin’s face swimming before his closed eyes.

Merlin wasn’t exactly his usual type - a bit too bony, a bit too sarcastic, a bit too bookish. There was something about him, though, about the way his smile filled his whole face, like he was always stopping himself from making fun of Arthur. 

Unconsciously, Arthur spun the golden band on his finger as he smiled at the thought of Merlin, the press of his hand earlier. Arthur was seized by a sudden urge to call up Gwen and ask for Merlin’s phone number. He wanted to know what it would feel like to get off Merlin’s old, brown leather jacket and get to the skin underneath. It had been months since he’d had any more contact with a person other than hand-holding. He doubted very much whether Elena had ever been with anyone and he dreaded the thought of the wedding night.

A night with Merlin, he bet, would be much more interesting.

His fingers stopped twisting the ring and he opened his eyes, staring down at it.

He couldn’t ask Gwen for Merlin’s phone number. He was engaged. The official announcement would be made tomorrow, whether he wished it or not. And besides, even if he wasn’t, he couldn’t ask Gwen to do that. He certainly couldn’t ask Morgana either, though he was sure she would be all too happy to provide it for him.

“All for your happiness,” she would say, but the feeling of dread would settle in Arthur’s stomach as she said it.

Rubbing his face, he took a deep breath. It would be better to forget about Merlin all together. His father certainly wouldn’t approve.

He twisted the ring one more time before dropping his hands and pushing himself off the couch to call in some take-out.

*

Arthur stared down at the speech in front of him, typed words blurring together, but he raised his gaze to the circle of press people holding out microphones, cameras flashing to his left and right. Uther stood off to the side of the platform, hands clasped in front of him and giving Arthur the look that meant he better not mess up. Elena stood beside him, fiddling with a ribbon on her dress and dropping up and down on her heels.

Arthur cleared his throat and glanced at the speech again. He hadn’t written it, and he didn’t know who had.

“I’m pleased to announce,” he said, the words sticking in his throat, and Elena twirled the ribbon around her finger. “That the Godwyn offices will be joining with Pendragon Corporation to further improve and strengthen the company. In addition, I’d like to take this opportunity to announce some special news. Elena and I will be getting married in October. We’re very excited.”

He wasn’t sure his tone reflected it, but Uther nodded slightly as the cameras flashed and reporters clambered to ask questions. Luckily, Uther stepped up to the podium and took over.

Arthur wasn’t listening to what Uther said, too busy concentrating on the smile on his face, keeping it from slipping into a grimace.

He only felt relief when the reporters were herded out and he could kiss Elena on the cheek as she and her father left. Sometimes he didn’t understand all the pomp and circumstance, but the Pendragons were a very old family and that meant traditions needed to be upheld.

Back in his office, he took his chair and held back his groan at the pile of papers covering his desk. At this rate, he would have grey hairs by the time he was thirty.

“Gwen,” he said, pressing the intercom button. “Can you bring me a double cappuccino?”

It was only a few minutes before Gwen stepped inside, carrying a mug of something steaming. 

“Tea,” she said, setting it on the desk. “To calm your nerves. And because you’re not a jumped-up American businessman.”

Arthur would have protested, but the relaxing scent of tea wafted up from the mug and less caffeine would probably do him good.

He pulled the cup to his lips, blowing the steam off the top. Gwen turned to leave.

“Gwen,” Arthur said before she could slip out the door. “How was your lunch yesterday?”

“Oh.” Gwen’s ears went pink, and he knew it had to be because of Lance. They were so in love it was almost nauseating. “It was fine, thank you.”

“Your friend,” Arthur went on, watching the flush recede as Gwen got herself back under control.

“Merlin?”

“He’s a bit strange.”

To his surprise, Gwen laughed. “He’d take that as a compliment, I think.”

Arthur wasn’t sure how to take that. “How do you know him exactly?”

“I’ve known him since year three. His mum and my dad were good friends.”

Arthur nodded. “He mentioned something about postgrad.”

He didn’t know why he was fishing for information, but a little part ached to know more about Merlin, and a treasure trove of information was sitting under his nose. 

“Yes, he’s studying for his Doctorate at King’s College. He’s just mad about medieval history. Could never work out why.”

“Medieval history?” Arthur asked skeptically. “What exactly…”

Gwen shrugged. “Perhaps he wants to work for the British Museum or else be one of those old professors on documentaries. He never seems to settle.”

Arthur hummed to himself, taking a sip of his tea. 

“Is that all, sir?” she asked after a moment, and Arthur nodded quickly.

“Yes, sorry, you can get back to your work.”

Gwen flashed him a smile and left. As the door closed, Arthur leaned back in his chair. He had told himself to forget about Merlin, but he just couldn’t, not when the only interesting thing in his life was what colour the flowers should be for the wedding.

Merlin was far more interesting and far more attractive than flowers. 

He had lunch with Elena in a few hours, though, so no more contemplating what it would be like to get Merlin alone. Instead, he pushed his chair up to the desk and finally got to work.

*

Over the tall, brown buildings, the London Eye rose on the riverbank in the distance. Students hefting large bags trudged past, not taking notice of Arthur standing in the middle of the pathway.

He had never been to King’s College, not directly anyway. He had probably passed it hundreds of times over the years but had never stopped to take it in.

The main building looked like many of the buildings in London, made of brown stones and with a stone courtyard in front, fountains shooting up from the ground. Glancing around, Arthur wasn’t even really sure what he was doing there. He wasn’t sure what he was doing except that instead of going straight home from the office, he had taken a detour and found himself in the middle of a courtyard. 

He walked along the fountains until he found himself in a leafy, grassy area where benches sat underneath trees. For once, the sun was out, though it was sinking along the horizon in the west.

Merlin probably wouldn’t even be there, Arthur told himself firmly, wishing his legs would listen and turn away from the college instead of keeping his path alongside the trees, eyes scanning the area. He should just go home right now, turn on the telly, and eat the leftover take away. He had work to do anyway.

Even that didn’t prevent Arthur from turning into another lane.

At the flash of a familiar dark head of hair, Arthur’s heart tripped over a beat as his gaze swiveled around to a man sitting on a bench with his back to Arthur. His head was bent down towards his lap, book bag slumped on the ground at his feet. 

Arthur didn’t think twice before crossing the grass and coming up behind Merlin. As he got closer, he could see Merlin had a foot propped up and a book the size of a tome open in his lap. A light breeze ruffled his hair, and Arthur smiled at the way his ears stuck out.

“Anglos, Saxons, and Jutes, oh my,” Arthur said, watching Merlin jump a few inches off the bench in surprise.

Merlin swiveled to look up at him, confusion flitting across his face for a second before his eyebrows furrowed and he closed his book slowly.

“Are you stalking me?”

“I could ask you the same,” Arthur replied, moving to the front of the bench. Merlin’s eyes never left him, and Arthur could swear the smile was back at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, I was here first,” Merlin pointed out, grabbing his sack and shoving his book into it.

“Let’s just call it even.”

Merlin really smiled this time, nodding for Arthur to sit down, but Arthur hesitated. 

“Fancy getting a drink?” he asked before he could stop himself, before business-mode took over again and he shook Merlin’s hand.

Merlin seemed to think about it for a second, but then he jerked his shoulders. “Sure.”

He rose from the bench and together they headed away from the college and into town.

“I know a place nearby,” Merlin said as they walked. “All the Uni kids go there.”

“Uni kids?” Arthur asked doubtfully. He wasn’t exactly university age anymore, and he would probably stick out like a sore thumb.

“You don’t look that old,” Merlin said playfully, knocking his elbow as they walked.

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Arthur deadpanned. “How old are you anyway?”

“Twenty-five.”

“And you’re still in postgrad?”

Merlin shrugged, turning the corner. “What can I say? I love the smell of books. Oh, it’s right up here.”

Merlin led the way to a crumbling corner pub, the windows darkened and the door creaky on its hinges as Arthur pulled it open and let Merlin in first.

Inside, it wasn’t much cleaner, with heavy wooden tables stuffed against the walls and a long counter on the back wall. It was still early, so that meant fewer people.

As they ordered pints and took a table in the back corner, Merlin dropped his sack on the floor and shoved it under his chair.

“Just so you know, I’m kind of a lightweight.”

Arthur eyed Merlin’s tall but thin frame, taking a moment to appreciate the curve of his collar bone under the thin tee shirt he wore, revealed when he pulled off his jacket. 

“Kind of figured.”

“Sod off,” Merlin said, but he smiled anyway and grabbed his drink, turning the handle to face him. “So why are you stalking me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Arthur replied, grabbing his mug and raising it to his lips. “I was simply taking a stroll.”

“Where I happen to study?”

“You were there, yes.”

“Hmm,” Merlin commented thoughtfully, clasping his fingers around his mug. “And what would your wife think of this?”

“Wife?”

Merlin reached over, touching the ring on Arthur’s hand, and Arthur pulled it away almost immediately. Merlin said nothing, arching knowing eyebrows at him.

“No,” he said quickly. “No, I’m not married…yet. I’m engaged. It’s an arranged thing—marriage.” 

“Right,” Merlin replied, “and how does your fiancée feel about you chatting up blokes?”

Guilt pinched his stomach and Arthur took a gulp of his drink. Merlin merely watched him and waited for the answer.

“I don’t know if she knows, but if she does, she ignores it, like my father.”

“When’s the wedding?”

Arthur ran a hand through his hair, his good mood waning. Of all the things he wanted to discuss with Merlin, Elena was not one of them. 

“October.”

Merlin nodded, more to himself than anything. “So do you want to get married?”

Arthur almost smiled at the naivety of the question. “That doesn’t matter. I’m getting married whether I want to or not. It’s my responsibility to uphold the family honor and carry on the Pendragon legacy.”

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“It can be. That’s why it’s nice to forget about it sometimes.” He took another gulp.

Merlin finally took a drink, licking his lips afterward, and Arthur wished they hadn’t gotten onto the subject of Elena and his father. There were so many better things they could discuss, or they didn’t even have to speak at all. 

“Is she the only one you can marry?”

“According to my father.” Arthur sighed. “Not that I’ve ever been with anyone I thought I would marry either, but I had hoped I would get a say. The last bloke I was with was certainly nothing my father approved of.”

“Do you even like girls?” Merlin asked, a curious smile back on his face.

“They’re nice to talk to sometimes.”

Merlin laughed, much to Arthur’s surprise, and he was glad to see the crinkle back in his eyes. Merlin should never look serious, he decided. 

“Have you told your father that?”

“He can be stubborn,” Arthur said, twisting the mug in his hands. “He just wants what’s best.”

“For you or the company?”

Arthur hesitated. He needed to drink more. “The lines aren’t always clear.”

Merlin nodded and took a sip. “True. And sometimes things just get more complicated even when you don’t mean them to.”

Arthur glanced up, gazing at Merlin across the table. Merlin didn’t look upset, and he bit his lower lip as he met Arthur’s gaze.

Arthur was fucked.

*

Arthur was enough of a gentleman that he managed to shut the flat door behind Merlin before crowding him up against it. All he wanted was to get Merlin’s jacket off and get his collarbone under his mouth. 

Merlin didn’t protest at all as his back hit the door, the handle jutting into his back, and Arthur felt him shift away from it.

“You’re engaged,” Merlin said as Arthur shucked off his jacket and tossed it over a chair behind him. 

“To a woman I hardly know,” Arthur replied, covering Merlin’s mouth with his own to stop any more logical reasons why they shouldn’t do this. To his relief, Merlin melted into him, hands sliding up to Arthur’s shoulders as Arthur’s own hands continued their exploration of Merlin’s body, grazing over his hips and under the edge of his old shirt.

Merlin’s body was lithe under his hands, long and lean, inclining into his touch as Arthur got lost in the feel of the body beneath him. 

Angling his body forward, Arthur spread Merlin’s legs, body pressing his against the door as their mouths slid together, tongues chasing each other. He could feel every breath Merlin took, the increasing thud of his heartbeat against his, how Merlin’s lower lip dragged against his. 

Arthur’s hand slid up Merlin’s stomach, catching the hitch in his breath as he rubbed his thumb over a nipple beneath the shirt.

“Uh, Arthur,” Merlin breathed into the kiss, and Arthur felt that in the twitch in his dick, a longing washing over him to just get Merlin naked already so he could lavish attention to his bare skin.

He pulled Merlin away from the door, flush against his body, and a thrill ran through his stomach as Merlin twined his arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

It had been months since he’d been with anyone and he hadn’t realized how much he missed it, how much he missed the press of a warm, hard body against his, hands sliding into his hair, teeth sinking into his lower lip as he tugged Merlin past the sitting area towards the bedroom.

They missed the doorway and hit the wall, but Arthur couldn’t bring himself to care as Merlin groaned against his mouth, hands scrabbling at the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and off. Arthur pulled back from the kiss to let it pass over his head, and when Merlin tossed it away, he caught Merlin staring at his chest, a hungry spark in his eye this time.

Leaning in, he pressed a soft kiss to Merlin’s jaw, lips brushing against stubble starting to sprout. He felt more than heard Merlin’s exhale in his ear. Merlin’s fingers barely clung to his belt, scraping against his stomach, almost as if he couldn’t concentrate on his grip while Arthur’s mouth moved down his jaw, licking and sucking the skin until he reached the spot behind his ear.

Merlin’s knees almost gave out when Arthur latched onto the soft patch of skin, but Arthur grabbed him by the waist and hauled him upright, squaring his shoulders against the wall. Merlin had to weigh a good few stones less than him, and his body moved easily with Arthur.

“Christ,” Merlin breathed, shifting under Arthur and pushing his hips against him.

Arthur still had on slacks from the office, and he could feel the rough slide of Merlin’s jeans against his cock. It hardened rapidly with each thrust from Merlin, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the friction and the heat filling him.

Arthur didn’t reply - he’d never been a big talker in bed, and even as he kissed Merlin again, tongue dipping into his mouth and tracing the roof of his mouth, a flicker of unease crept in. The tiny twist of guilt in his stomach hadn’t gone away, but he didn’t want to stop now, not now that he had Merlin whining underneath him, hands running over his chest as they kissed, barely pausing for breath.

“You need fewer clothes on,” Arthur murmured finally, reaching for Merlin’s shirt and pulling it up.

Merlin smiled in response, licking his reddened lips and letting Arthur strip the shirt off. 

Merlin was just as thin as Arthur had suspected, not at all like most men Arthur had been with. Gwaine had been thin, but he’d still been fit and strong. Arthur doubted Merlin could even lift his book bag.

Still, there was something beautiful about him, and not just in the way he smiled at Arthur and reached out to brush his hair aside. 

Pushing aside the strange twinge deep in his gut, Arthur slid his hands over Merlin’s hips as he moved in to suck on his collar bone, the thing he’d been coveting since Merlin had taken off his jacket in the pub. It was the first time he’d gotten Merlin down to only one layer of clothing, and really, only two articles remained if they ever got through the bedroom door.

He heard the clunk of Merlin’s head as it hit the wall, the breathy exhale, and then Merlin’s hands were in his hair, dragging him up to his mouth. Merlin was a fantastic kisser, Arthur decided, nipping at his bottom lip and crowding him into the wall.

Arthur wasn’t thinking about Elena or the merger or his father. He thought only of getting Merlin out of his trousers and naked underneath him. 

His hands fumbled with Merlin’s belt, distracted by the curl of Merlin’s tongue in his mouth.

“Ah!” Merlin broke the kiss, glancing down as Arthur got the belt apart and reached for the zipper. “Arthur.”

The word came out breathily, and Arthur nearly groaned in response, heat rising on his skin the closer he got to finding his release, to finally being with someone other than his hand. His breathing came shorter, faster, and he glanced up at Merlin, meeting his eyes and pausing.

“Do you want to stop?” he asked, mouth brushing over Merlin’s neck as he breathed in Merlin’s scent, heady and heavy, mixed with sweat and anticipation. He could swear Merlin shivered beneath him as he dragged his hand along the outline of his cock, pressed against his trousers.

“No,” Merlin replied, hardly a whisper.

That was all the confirmation Arthur needed, and he dragged Merlin away from the wall, walking him backwards into the bedroom until the back of Merlin’s knees hit the bed and he fell backwards.

No time was wasted now as Arthur yanked off Merlin’s jeans, leaving him only in his underpants. It almost didn’t surprise Arthur that the pants were red polka-dotted. 

He didn’t take the time to poke fun at Merlin, though, much too interested in what was underneath, and when he finally glanced up, it was to meet Merlin’s amused smirk. 

“Oh, shut up,” Arthur said without thinking, kicking off his own trousers and settling over Merlin instead, his considerably-heavier weight sinking into him.

Merlin only continued to smirk, and Arthur had the uncontrollable urge to wipe it off his face.

He really only knew one sure-fire way, and instead of telling Merlin to shove off, he dropped to Merlin’s chest, lavishing attention with his tongue along his collar bone first, sucking until he pulled away to reveal a blossoming red flower along the bone. Sliding down, he circled around a nipple, listening to the hitch in Merlin’s breath. 

Merlin’s body melted beneath him, his hands curling into the luxurious cover on the bed. Arthur had never particularly liked the dark blue of the cover, but against Merlin’s skin, he gained a new appreciation for it, especially the way it crinkled in Merlin’s grip.

The nipple hardened under his tongue, red and hot as he sucked on the skin. 

The heat that started in his stomach spread out further, his cock hardening as he moved further down, his fingers hooking underneath the waistband to Merlin’s polka-dotted underpants. He was so close, and Merlin wasn’t stopping him. Merlin wanted this as much as he did.

He pulled the pants down slowly, revealing more and more until Merlin lay completely naked beneath him, exposed to him. Merlin didn’t seem embarrassed at all, and nudged Arthur when he paused a moment too long.

“Are you just gonna stare at it?”

“Prat,” Arthur muttered, and Merlin’s smirk returned.

The thing was that Arthur was usually on the receiving end of these, and the prospect of taking Merlin into his mouth made his heart beat a little faster than normal, made his hands shake more than they should. 

He wasn’t nervous. He was just out of practice, but that would never stop a Pendragon from doing something, and Arthur was nothing if not persistent. 

Besides, he had Merlin at his mercy, and if he wanted, he could make this last all night. The thought sent a shiver of desire through him and he wasted no more time contemplating his own actions, pushing Merlin’s thighs open and licking the head of his prick.

Merlin let out a soft groan above him, and Arthur pushed further.

Merlin’s cock was hard and heavy as he slid his hand up the length and rolled it between his palms, feeling the weight, the hot skin as he rolled his tongue over the tip and sucked.

Merlin’s response came almost immediately - a sharp breath and a twitch. Arthur’s hand tightened over the base of the prick, holding him still from pushing into his mouth as he slid in deeper.

Having a cock in his mouth wasn’t a new thing, but it had certainly been a while since he’d been here. He wondered what it would feel like with Merlin going down on him, his smirk stretching over his shiny cock, choking him until he came.

Arthur reached down, palming himself and trying to adjust against the bed.

Merlin was making noise, too much noise, but it didn’t matter. Arthur didn’t care, and each hum and whine shot through him like lightening. 

His hands pressed Merlin’s hips to the bed as he slid his hand away, moving in deeper, licking over Merlin’s prick and listening to the choked exhale he got in response. Merlin couldn’t be too far away, and his cock only seemed to harden as Arthur sucked, moving in and out. 

Squeezing his own prick, he moved faster, his jaw starting to tire. Pulling back, he ignored Merlin’s confused and disoriented noise and licked his reddened lips, taking the opportunity to admire the man beneath him.

Merlin’s eyes fluttered open, half-lidded, eyelashes brushing against his cheeks as he stared down at Arthur. 

Arthur’s mobile chose that moment to ring shrilly, filling the room, silent apart from heavy breathing, and all Arthur wanted to do was run his hands all over Merlin’s body and suck on every part of his skin until Merlin was a blubbering mess with no trace of a smirk on his face.

For a second, time seemed suspended as the mobile rang and Arthur swallowed. It was somewhere on the floor, in his slacks’ pocket. 

“You going to answer that?”

Arthur knew he should. It was probably something important, something he would regret not answering later, but with Merlin right there and the blood thudding in his cock, the heat rising on his skin, he couldn’t bring himself to turn away.

“No,” he replied, grabbing a pillow from the bed and tossing it down. The sound muffled and the ringer stopped a few seconds later.

Crawling up, he smoothed his hands up Merlin’s chest, sliding to cradle his jaw and pull him into a long, drawn-out kiss that Merlin followed through, chasing Arthur’s tongue as their lips slipped together.

Arthur broke the kiss abruptly, rolling Merlin over onto his stomach and pressing a kiss to the top of his spine before stretching over to the nightstand. Inside, he grabbed out the box of rubbers, barely used since he’d bought it. He shook one out and tore it open.

Merlin didn’t speak as he prepared himself, grabbing out the lube and coating his fingers with it. Merlin only moved when Arthur slid a hand under his hips, guiding him onto his knees. His cock twitched at the sight of Merlin’s ass in the air, waiting for him, ready to be taken.

He ignored the nagging feeling the phone had left and stroked a slick finger down Merlin’s hip, moving around to his entrance.

There was resistance with the first finger, but Merlin didn’t protest. He couldn’t see Merlin’s face, but he guessed from the way his head was bowed towards the bed that he had his eyes shut. His breathing was measured, stuttering at the second finger Arthur slid into the tight muscles.

He didn’t want to waste time, though, and Arthur didn’t let Merlin adjust too much before removing the fingers and repositioning him. Merlin’s knees sunk into the covers, and Arthur kept a grip on his hips as he pressed his cock inside.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he let out a long breath as he sunk into the hot, tight muscles of Merlin’s ass. It had been so long, so long since he’d been able to be with someone like this. What made it even better was when he opened his eyes to Merlin’s dark hair, his ears poking out adorably, and the way the muscles in his back moved when he stretched against him.

Biting down on his lip, he started to move, building up a slow, burning rhythm that rocked the headboard and ripped through him with each thrust, each push inside Merlin. 

Merlin’s fingers dug into the slippery silk of the bedcover, and Arthur heard his muffled moan, hidden in the pillow. The muscles tightened and Arthur heard himself curse.

It wouldn’t be long, and he didn’t want to postpone the release any longer than he had to. He wanted to do this every day, with Merlin gasping beneath him, a pretty pink flush on the tops of his shoulders and probably along his cheeks too if he could see.

“Christ,” Merlin muttered, hand reaching back to grip Arthur’s thigh, pulling him in harder, faster.

Arthur couldn’t hold on, couldn’t keep the control he always held in every situation, and he heard himself curse a second time, louder this time, as he let go and came, hips still moving against Merlin.

Heat washed over him, covering his whole body as his release took him, arms shaking as he forced himself to let go of Merlin’s hips, slumping over his back for a second as he tried to gather himself.

He barely registered Merlin dragging his hand over his stomach and down to his prick that was still hard as a rock.

“Finish what you started,” Merlin said over his shoulder as Arthur struggled to stay upright, plastered to Merlin’s back. He would probably squish him if he didn’t stay up.

He let Merlin guide his hand, running along Merlin’s prick and stroking him until Merlin twitched and Arthur felt wet come on his fingers. Normally, he would have immediately grabbed a towel, but instead, Arthur only felt the comfortable after-glow tugging on him as he slipped down onto the bed finally with a sigh.

Merlin scooted away from the wet spot on the bed, turning around to face Arthur. Arthur rubbed at his forehead tiredly, wanting only to fall asleep and not deal with any of the consequences this would surely bring.

He opened his eyes at Merlin’s hand brushing his hair back again.

“You’re not going to pull a quid from behind my ear, are you?”

“I don’t think you need the money,” Merlin replied, flicking his ear instead and propping himself up on his elbow.

Reluctantly, Arthur pushed himself into a sitting position. His mobile buzzed with a new voicemail on the floor.

He shouldn’t have done it, he thought, scanning down Merlin’s body beside him. He should have just left well enough alone. It was too late now, though.

He didn’t want to think about his mistake, though. He would rather concentrate on how good Merlin looked with his hair mussed, the dull flush receding from his cheeks, the shine still in his eyes as he smiled at Arthur, like Arthur hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I could probably pull flowers out of somewhere if you wanted me to,” Merlin said, and Arthur groaned, unable to stop himself as he pulled Merlin’s mouth to his. He wanted to taste him again, one last time before he had to stop this.

“Why are you a magician?” Arthur murmured against his mouth. He had to savor this moment before he ruined it all, but he’d already ruined something, he knew that.

“Because my name is Merlin.”

Arthur could feel Merlin’s grin against his lips.

“And because medieval history doesn’t leave much room for pocket money.”

Arthur kissed him again, just because he could, reveling in the way Merlin leaned into it, didn’t protest or pull away. He had to stop, though, as much as the thought wasn’t appealing.

Pulling away, he shook himself. He had to get a hold of himself.

“What?” Merlin asked when Arthur looked away from him and slid off the bed. “What’s wrong?”

Arthur grabbed his trousers and pulled them back on, uncovering his phone and glancing at the screen and Uther’s number flashing under the missed calls. 

“I’m sorry, Merlin,” Arthur said finally, tucking the phone away. “I shouldn’t have—I’m, I’m engaged.”

“Yeah, I know.” 

Arthur tossed Merlin’s jeans over to him on the bed. “Even if Elena was a terrible person, I still shouldn’t disrespect her like this.”

Merlin’s expression changed slowly, from confusion to understanding, and he nodded once. “Oh.”

“It’s not that I don’t like you,” Arthur hurried to say, his stomach twisting with guilt at the quiet acceptance on Merlin’s face. “It’s just, she deserves better than that and so do you.”

“I understand,” Merlin said finally, voice light, and Arthur frowned.

“You do?”

Merlin slid off the bed and started pulling on his jeans with his back to Arthur. It took all Arthur’s self-control not to say “screw it” and push Merlin back onto the mattress. Instead, he watched Merlin button his trousers and turn around.

“I do.”

“You’re not upset.” 

Merlin shrugged. “I knew what I was getting into. Elena’s a lucky girl.”

Arthur stared as Merlin went to the door and retrieved his shirt from the floor. That hadn’t exactly been the reaction he’d expected.

“Wait,” he said, hurrying from the bedroom and across the living area to where Merlin paused by the front door, hopping to get his left shoe on before leaving.

“Yeah?”

Arthur searched Merlin for a second, looking for signs of anger or sadness, but there appeared to be nothing.

For a second, Arthur didn’t know why he’d stopped Merlin. 

“We could still be mates,” he said a second later, though why he said it, he didn’t know. Mates was the last thing he wanted to be with Merlin, especially when half a smile appeared on Merlin’s face, almost as if he were amused by the suggestion.

“Mates?”

“Yeah, you know, go out for drinks, go to museums? Do you like museums?”

“Do _you_ like museums?” 

“They’re alright, I—”

Merlin laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

Arthur didn’t know if it was a compliment or not. “Er…”

Merlin paused. “Yeah, we could be mates.” Rummaging in his sack, he came out with a crinkled piece of paper and scribbled a mobile number down. “Ring me sometime.”

“Okay,” Arthur agreed, and Merlin shook his head, smiling to himself as he opened the door and left.

His fingers trembled as they closed around the paper with Merlin’s number on it. His heart beat faster than normal as he turned. His mobile buzzed again with the voice message and all fluttery excitement died at the vibration. They would just be mates. He could do that.

*

His tea was going cold and the scones sat on the table untouched. A chilly breeze fluttered the leaves on the trees above the small patio overlooking the canal, and Arthur glanced at Morgana across from him.

A part of Arthur wondered why he even agreed to these meetings with Morgana. She always said it was good to keep in touch, and every couple months, they would end up meeting for a morning cup of tea to discuss the mundane aspects of their lives.

Arthur’s mind wasn’t focused this morning, though. He had to be at the park in an hour to meet Elena and the photographer. 

“How’s Elena?” Morgana asked, raising her cup to her lips and taking a small sip. 

“Fine,” Arthur replied automatically.

“I was talking to her at the party,” she went on, setting down her glass with the clink of china. “She says the bridesmaid dresses are to be purple.”

“Hmm.”

Arthur didn’t care about the colour of bridesmaid dresses, and he doubted very much whether Elena did either. 

“I look horrid in purple.”

“Hmm? Oh,” Arthur said, forcing himself to focus on what she was saying.

Morgana eyed him for a moment and then leaned back in her seat. Realistically, it was a bit too chilly to be sitting outside, but being inside just made Arthur feel claustrophobic lately. The sun, at least, was trying to poke through the layer of clouds.

“You seemed to enjoy yourself at the party.”

“It was alright.”

“And that magician,” she went on.

“Merlin?”

Morgana’s smile widened. “Yes. He was a quite good, wouldn’t you agree?”

Something in her expression stopped Arthur from agreeing, and he shrugged instead, grabbing his cup of cold tea.

“He was alright.”

It had been three days since he had seen Merlin, though he had programmed his number into his mobile already and stopped himself from sending a text message at least five times so far.

He wasn’t exactly sure how this “just mates” thing was supposed to work, but it probably involved them spending time together, time in which they didn’t end up in bed.

“I thought he was rather cute,” Morgana commented, and Arthur found himself wondering where Cenred was, as he always seemed to wonder when he saw Morgana. They rarely appeared anywhere together and he always seemed to be away on business when Arthur came round.

“I suppose.” He downed what was left in his cup, grimacing at the taste of cold tea, and then stood from his chair. “I should really get going. I must meet Elena.”

Morgana crossed her legs and gazed up at him. “Tell Elena I say hello, and let Uther know I’ll be dropping by the office this week for a chat.”

Arthur nodded, not giving much thought to why. “I’ll see you later.” He bent down and kissed her cheek.

Grabbing his jacket, he pulled it on and left the cafe. 

The park was halfway across town, so Arthur hailed a taxi and slipped inside, glad to be alone.

He never quite understood why Morgana stuck around after the big blow-up with Uther before University. She had moved out, yes, but she hadn’t gone far. 

Pulling out his mobile, he checked the time. He would be early to the park and then it might take hours to get this engagement shoot done with. At least it was Saturday which meant he didn’t have to be at the office for once. 

Scrolling through his phone, he paused over Merlin’s name. So far he’d resisted the urge to text or phone him, but as he sat in traffic, stalled at a red light, he couldn’t resist anymore.

He opened up a text message.

_It’s Arthur. What are you doing tonight?_

He didn’t know if Merlin would get the message or not, but he sat with the mobile clutched in his hands until it vibrated a few minutes later.

_Meeting some friends at the pub. Want to come with?_

Arthur hesitated, but the light turned green and the car lurched forward. He would blame that for his fingers typing in, _Sure_.

_Great. I’ll text the details later._

Tucking away his phone, Arthur leaned back in the seat. He smiled as he thought of Merlin, and suddenly the photo session didn’t seem like such a horrible thing to have to deal with today.

*

The weather only worsened as the day went on, the tiny rays of sun vanishing behind grey clouds and an intermittent drizzle of rain dripped through the trees.

“After this, can we get ice cream?” Elena asked, separating a curl while they waited for the photographer to hastily clean his rain-splotched lens.

“Ice cream?” Arthur repeated, shivering at the thought. “It’s freezing.”

Elena shrugged, and Arthur paused, gazing at her for a long moment.

Since they’d been introduced - at a business function in which Uther had basically announced to Arthur that he would be meeting his future wife - they hadn’t had a real conversation that Arthur could recall. The most he knew about Elena was that her father was the president of a competitive technology firm. Elena herself, she could have been anyone, anyone who enjoyed sweets and brightly-colored clothing as evidenced by her daisy-yellow dress she had on.

“Elena, can I ask you something?”

Elena looked up at him, blinking her large, blue eyes in response.

“How do you feel about this wedding?”

A part of him prayed she thought it was a terrible idea as well, but when she scrunched her nose up and smiled, he knew his hope was unfounded.

“I did think October was a strange choice, but I think you’re right. A fall wedding will be much more appropriate.”

Arthur’s heart sank and he said nothing in return, instead watching the photographer struggle with the batteries in his camera now.

“My father says it’s a great match.”

Arthur hummed instead of answering. Exactly what Uther said.

“What do you like to do?” he asked instead. Maybe they had something in common, anything.

“Lots of things. Horseback riding, baking, sometimes. I’m not very good at it. When I was little, my nanny tried to teach me how to sew, but I’m still rubbish at any kind of crafts.”

“Do you like to read? Go to the theater? Go to pubs?” He was fishing now, but there had to be something they shared an interest in. To his plummeting disappointment, she shook her head at every suggestion.

“Pubs are too noisy for me,” she said, leaning back against a tree trunk. “And I’ve always found books boring. I’d rather watch the film.”

“What about hobbies? Do you study anything in particular?”

To his surprise, Elena snorted as she laughed. “I was a bit of a dunce in school. My teachers always said I had my head in the clouds.”

“Got it!” the cameraman shouted abruptly, and not a moment too soon, Arthur thought. He couldn’t wait to get this over with so he could get out of there. After all, he had Merlin to look forward to.

*

Arthur changed his shirt too many times before finally heading to the pub. The drizzle had increased to a full-on deluge of rain as he ducked inside the door to a pub he’d never visited before, but he didn’t often have chances to go to pubs these days, not since University.

His heart battered almost nervously as he surveyed the dimly-lit room, tables filled with chatting friends, laughter in one corner, and the combined clunks of glasses on heavy wooden tables.

It took a minute, but he spotted Merlin sitting at a table in the back, talking to a few other people he didn’t recognize. Weaving his way over, he didn’t have to say anything as Merlin looked up, his face lighting up in a smile that made Arthur’s heart stutter stupidly over itself.

“Arthur!” he greeted him cheerfully.

They clearly hadn’t been there long since no one had a drink yet. Merlin gestured for Arthur to sit down in the empty seat next to him, but as Arthur rounded the table, he recognized the woman across from Merlin.

“Gwen!” he said, surprised, and she stared at him for half a second.

“Sir,” she said quickly, shooting a look at Merlin. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Arthur replied, unsure what to do. He took the seat Merlin had gestured at slowly, placing his hands on the table and feeling the awkwardness fill the atmosphere. The other man at the table, with brown hair and brown eyes, quite plain but still handsome, glanced between everyone.

“I’m Lance,” he said finally, holding out a hand to shake Arthur’s.

“Oh, yes,” Gwen said, jerking back to herself. “Lance, this is my boss, Arthur Pendragon.” The tips of her ears went pink, and Arthur stopped himself from laughing at her embarrassment.

“I am not your boss, Gwen. Tonight, I am just Arthur.”

Gwen didn’t look convinced but she nodded. “Okay… Lance, why don’t we get some drinks?”

They left him and Merlin at the table, and Arthur watched Gwen whispering to Lance as they crossed to the bar.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” he muttered.

Merlin stretched out his legs beneath the table. “Why? Because Gwen is your secretary?”

“Assistant,” Arthur corrected him.

“Or because you’d rather it was just me and you?”

Arthur looked up at Merlin, and Merlin grinned back at him.

“I’m just taking the piss. Relax. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.” He kicked Arthur’s foot under the table. “I’m glad you came.”

Despite himself, Arthur relaxed. It was just something about Merlin that made him forget all the stresses of his day. 

“What are you going to tell Gwen?” he asked, glancing over to where Gwen and Lance were talking as they waited for their drinks.

“About what?”

Arthur didn’t get the chance to reply as Gwen and Lance returned, setting down four glasses on the table.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked to drink,” Gwen said, passing over a pint.

“You didn’t have to—”

“It’s fine.” She sat down, glancing between him and Merlin for a moment. “So, why are you here exactly?”

“Oh, well…”

“I invited him,” Merlin piped up, much to Arthur’s relief, although when he thought about what Merlin might say, his stomach twisted uncomfortably.

“You did?”

“When we met at your office the other day, I said a prat like him would never be caught dead in a pub with the likes of us.”

“Merlin!” Gwen admonished him with a hasty glance towards Arthur, but Arthur felt only relief and a hint of amusement.

“He proved me wrong, though, didn’t he?” Merlin asked, hiding his grin behind his pint as he took a sip. 

Gwen said nothing, wringing her hands together as though sure she would get fired. 

Arthur smiled. “Well, I couldn’t let a shoddy academic beat me.”

Merlin tipped his mug to him, and Gwen looked confused, but she seemed to decide not to press the subject.

“Merlin, what were you saying about your professor?”

“She thinks I need more concrete research for my thesis.”

“What does that mean?” Lance asked, brushing his hand against Gwen’s as he reached for his mug, and Arthur swore that they both blushed. A perfect couple.

“Just means I need to do a bit more digging. I’ll probably be buried in books for months.”

“What’s your thesis on?” Arthur asked curiously. He hadn’t had to bother with that in business school, instead learning facts and figures and struggling through economics.

“It’s an in-depth study on the lingering effects of William the first’s invasion in the tribes of Britain that led up to the feudal era and the eventual creation of knights.”

“Wow.” Arthur had never had any interest in medieval history. In school, he had slept through most of history class, in fact, but when Merlin said it, it sounded a thousand times more interesting. “Do you read Old English then?”

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck. “Not very well.”

“He’s just modest,” Gwen added. “He can read _Beowulf_ in its original form.”

“Only because I have it memorized,” Merlin muttered, taking a drink.

“Did you see the film they made a few years ago?”

“It was a terrible,” Merlin said, making a face. “I can’t stand films based on books. They always ruin something.”

Arthur found himself smiling at Merlin’s answer.

“What?” Merlin asked.

“Nothing.” He shook his head and Merlin laughed after a second, grabbing his mug.

“Prat.”

Arthur looked away when he realized Gwen was watching him closely, and took a swig of his drink, avoiding her gaze.

*

“That’s not it at all, Merlin,” Gwen said, tapping the side of her half-empty mug, eyebrows furrowed. “If the Romans hadn’t come at all, we never would have had the wars between the Saxons and English would still be spoken. Rome would have just expanded somewhere else.”

“No, Gwen,” Merlin replied, shaking his head. Arthur found himself gazing at the expanse of pale skin on Merlin’s neck instead of truly listening. “The English language would never have evolved in the way it has if that happened.”

“Strange, isn’t it?” Lance asked, leaning over towards Arthur.

Arthur jerked, caught staring, but he tried to cover it. “What is?”

Lance nodded at Merlin and Gwen, who both looked stubbornly set in their argument. “Arguing over things that happened hundreds of years ago.”

“Oh, yeah.”

He supposed he ought to pay a bit more attention to what they were saying and less to what he would like to do to Merlin. They were just friends now.

Still, he couldn’t get the image of Merlin naked beneath him out of his mind. He couldn’t get the noises he had made out of his head. He wanted to hear them again.

“I suppose you’d rather be speaking Latin?” Merlin asked, draining the rest of his beer. 

“Don’t be so smart,” Gwen admonished him. “It’s unattractive.”

“I’m not trying to impress anyone here,” Merlin pointed out, glancing at Arthur for a second. “If I was trying to do that, I’d just make this table disappear.”

Gwen shook her head, smiling fondly at him. “You’re hopeless. I don’t know how you’re ever going to find someone.”

“I’m not worried.” Merlin grinned.

Arthur wondered if that was aimed at him, but he didn’t get the chance to think too much as his mobile went off in his pocket.

Pulling it out, he tried not to grimace at his father’s name flashing on the screen.

“Excuse me, I have to take this,” he said, standing from the table and weaving his way through the crowded pub.

“Hello, Father,” he answered once out of earshot of Merlin. 

“Arthur, good. I—Where are you?”

Arthur glanced around at the tables filled with talking and laughing people. He moved towards the door quickly.

“I just went out for some dinner.”

Uther made a short noise. “Monday morning, we need to have a talk about the merger. I want to see all your research so we can go over it and start making plans for the company restructuring.”

“Of course.”

“This isn’t a petty hiring of a few people, Arthur,” Uther reminded him. “This is a multi-million pound deal we have to make work for the company.”

“Yes, I know.”

Arthur glanced across the pub to Merlin’s table, watching him and Gwen laugh at something. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been out with mates that didn’t involve some kind of company function or family obligation. He simply didn’t have time.

“I expect to see you bright and early on Monday, Arthur.”

“Yes, Father,” he agreed, hanging up the phone slowly. 

He returned to the table at length, taking his seat, and Merlin glanced up with a smile. 

“Your fiancée?”

“My father,” he replied, grabbing his mug and taking a drink. He didn’t need to be reminded that Merlin knew all about Elena and that she was the reason he was sitting here discussing the evolution of the English language instead of fucking Merlin’s perfect hips into a mattress.

Gwen was giving him a sympathetic glance that he didn’t want to read too much into, so he ignored it, pushing the phone call from his mind.

“So, Gwen, what do you do when you’re not working?”

In two years of having Gwen as an assistant, he didn’t think he had ever asked that question.

Gwen looked surprised. “Well, I volunteer at a children’s home on the weekends.”

“That’s how we met,” Lance added. “She needed a book to read to the kids and I volunteer at the library down the street.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Sickeningly sweet,” Merlin said, his head propped up on his hands, and he grinned as Gwen shot him a look. “And when’s the wedding, mates?”

Arthur wasn’t imagining it this time as Gwen’s cheeks went red and even Lance smiled nervously, a faint tinge of pink on the back of his neck.

Merlin leaned over to Arthur and muttered in his ear. “I do it for the reaction.”

“You’re awful.”

Merlin laughed. “I know.”

With Merlin that close, Arthur had a sudden urge to kiss him, but he stopped himself, leaning away instead.

Gwen composed herself first, brushing back a curl. “I also enjoy reading, especially if the weather’s nice, I like to go to the park.”

“Who doesn’t in London?” Arthur asked. The weather rarely cleared up except in the summertime, and then the parks were usually full of tourists.

“Merlin, for one.”

Arthur stared at Merlin. “You don’t like the outdoors?”

“I’m a pasty Englishman,” Merlin pointed out, gesturing at his body. “I do better indoors.”

“I should take you shooting sometime.”

“Shooting? No.” Merlin shook his head. “I don’t shoot things.”

“My father has acres and acres of land we could shoot on. It’s beautiful. I’m sure you’d love it.”

“No, I-just, no,” Merlin repeated, a smile on his face despite his words. “I’m not the sort.”

“What sort is that?”

“Oh, you know,” Merlin replied slyly. “The sort that chases around animals with a gun.”

“Don’t worry, that little rabbit from your hat is safe.”

“His name is Clyde.”

Arthur grinned. “Tell Clyde he’s safe.”

“I will.” Merlin glanced at his empty mug. “I think I need another. Anyone else?”

Lance nodded but Gwen shook her head. 

“I’ll help,” Arthur offered, following Merlin from the table.

At the bar, Merlin ordered two more and leaned against the counter facing Arthur.

“So is the mate thing going well?”

“Seems to be going alright.”

Merlin smiled, plucking at Arthur’s jacket sleeve. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Gwen about what happened. I know she works for you. Not that she’d tell anyone. She’s the most trustworthy person I know.”

“I appreciate that.”

Arthur wasn’t sure what to say, and all he wanted to do was smooth down the piece of Merlin’s hair sticking up behind his ear, but he kept his hands to himself. Mates didn’t do things like that.

His eyes rested on Merlin’s for a beat too long, though, and he pulled his gaze away, clearing his throat. 

“So what’s the betting on how long until they’re married?”

“Years, I’m sure,” Merlin replied with a vague wave of his hand.

“Why so long?”

“Because it’ll take that long for Lance to get up the courage to ask her. It took him nearly a year to ask her out on a date.”

“You didn’t help at all?”

Merlin leaned in conspiratorially. “I’ve found that when I try to meddle in other people’s love lives, it always backfires spectacularly.” He moved back. “So I’m just letting them take their time.”

“Probably a good idea.”

The bartender came back with the pints and Merlin grabbed them both. “Shall we go see how much they can blush?”

Arthur laughed. “You are truly terrible.”

Merlin only grinned and led the way.

*

“In addition to the twenty employees we’ll be adding from Godwyn’s company, we’ll have to downsize our own tech department by about five people,” Arthur said, laying out the papers on Uther’s desk. “We have the option to let them go or to possibly redistribute them to another part of the company.”

“Let them go,” Uther said without a second thought, and Arthur hesitated.

“Father, most of them have been with the company for many years.”

“I appreciate loyalty as much as the next man,” Uther said, shuffling the papers into a pile. “But sacrifices need to be made in order to make this merger work. After all, once it’s said and done, we will have a stronger, more superior company.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Have a talk with Leon about which to let go then bring your choices to me.”

Arthur gathered up his report and slipped it into the folder. As he stood, he remembered.

“Morgana said she would be stopping by this week.”

“Very well. Has she talked to Elena about entertainment for the wedding? She said she could recommend a musical group for the ceremony.”

“Not yet,” Arthur replied, feeling his mobile vibrate in his pocket.

“You should be more involved in planning this wedding,” Uther warned him. “You can’t be a spectator in your own life, Arthur.”

“Yes, Father,” he agreed, “I’ll get back to you on mine and Leon’s decision.”

Uther merely hummed as Arthur left and shut the office door behind him.

Pulling out his mobile, he read the text there.

_I think Beowulf is overrated._

Arthur caught himself smiling at Merlin’s text as he walked down the hall.

_You’re the one who has it memorized._

_I meant that it only shows one side of the story. Grendel wasn’t a monster._

_Except that he WAS a monster,_ Arthur texted back.

_He was just protecting what he loved, doing what he was born to do._

Arthur paused at that. _Does that mean Beowulf is the monster?_

_Maybe there is no monster._

_What is the point of this rambling?_

_I was just thinking of how handsome Beowulf was and you came to mind._

Arthur laughed out loud but quickly caught himself as he passed a woman coming the opposite direction. She gave him a curious look but kept on walking.

_Shameless flirt._

_The truth is the truth._

Shaking his head to himself, Arthur tried to hide his smile as he entered his office and saw Gwen behind her desk.

“Morning, Gwen,” he greeted her, and her head snapped up.

“Hello, sir. There’s a fresh pot of tea in the break room if you’d like me to get you some. Also, Elena called. The wedding planner wants to plan a day to look at venues.”

“Fantastic,” he muttered. “Call her back and schedule a day.”

“And the tea?”

“Gwen.” He smiled slightly. “You’re far too good to me.”

“I know,” she only replied, rising from her seat and heading to the break room.

In his office, Arthur took out his mobile again. 

_Should I give Gwen a raise?_

Merlin’s response was quick, and Arthur wondered where he was. Probably in a library or taking a break from some children’s party, restocking his never-ending supply of lollies. 

_Probably, if she has to put up with you all the time._

_Hilarious._

_You’re welcome_.

Gwen poked her head in, a cup of steaming tea in her hand. 

“Here you go,” she said, setting it down on his desk. “A dash of milk and sugar. Just the way you like it.”

He took it, pausing a second. “Gwen, about the other day at the pub. I hope that wasn’t inappropriate, showing up like that.”

Gwen smiled. “You’re Merlin’s friend. It’s good he makes some new ones. I’ll let you get to work.”

She shut the door behind her and Arthur set his phone aside. Merlin would have to wait.

*

Arthur honestly wasn’t surprised that Uther insisted on coming along to look at possible wedding venues, and he was even less surprised that Uther deemed most of the places they saw as too plain.

“It’s a very important ceremony,” he told the poor wedding planner, who looked as though her plastered-on smile was in danger of falling off very soon. “This is just too small.”

He gestured at the cavernous church, and Arthur swore he heard the flutter of birds in the rafters.

Elena didn’t seem to have many opinions herself, gazing around at the old carvings and stained glass windows.

“It’s a bit drafty,” she said, peering into the cobweb-filled corners.

“It just won’t do,” Uther agreed, and he herded them all out of the church. 

They had already been to at least five places, and morning was quickly slipping into afternoon. Arthur doubted whether they would ever find anywhere suitable to have this wedding, although he would rather have not found anything.

“What about the garden?” Arthur asked as they walked down the street, the wedding planner flipping hastily through her notes for another location. “That was nice.”

“Yes, the flowers were beautiful,” Elena agreed, surprising Arthur. She hadn’t said much while they were there except to wonder if she should change the colour scheme of the wedding.

“You cannot get married in a garden,” Uther dismissed them. “Outdoor weddings are too unpredictable, and no one wants to sit on the lawn.”

They were never going to find somewhere, Arthur thought, any hope of escaping back to his flat for an evening of texting Merlin and watching old films disappearing.

“What about where you and Mum got married?” Arthur asked, desperate for an end to this day-trip.

Uther stopped walking abruptly, his eyes glazing over with memories for a second. 

“Yes,” he said slowly, turning to face Arthur and Elena. The wedding planner stopped flipping through notes, looking up with a hint of desperation as well. “Yes, that’s a wonderful idea. We’ll call the church and set up the date immediately.”

Arthur had never seen the church his parents had married in, though he knew it was on the north side of the river, a little ways out of the city. Uther rarely spoke of his mother or anything related to her.

“Wonderful!” the wedding planner piped up, elbowing her way through Arthur and Elena to Uther. “Then we can get started on the reception.”

Arthur had enough self-control not to groan out loud and a giddy thrill ran through him as his mobile vibrated with a new text.

Checking to make sure Uther was involved in discussions about locations for the reception, he took out his phone, expecting to see Merlin’s name on it.

He was surprised to see Percy’s instead, and his heart sank a little, but he opened the message.

_Meeting at the pub for a guy’s night. You in?_

Beside him, Elena hummed softly to herself. It wasn’t what he’d expected, but if he didn’t go, his friends would all ask why, and he couldn’t use work as an excuse again, not after the first five times.

 _I’ll be there_.

He tucked away the mobile just as Uther turned around.

“We’re going to look at a few banquet halls for the reception. Arthur, get a taxi.”

Stepping up to the curb, Arthur flagged down a passing cab and held the door open for Elena. He hoped this afternoon would be over before long, although it didn’t look like it when the wedding planner gave the address to the driver. Sitting back on the seat, Arthur stared instead at the rain as it began to sprinkle on the window.

*

He definitely needed a drink, Arthur decided as he pushed open the door to the pub and spotted Percy at their usual table near the wall. A few other old Uni mates sat around the table and stood up to greet him as he approached.

“You made it,” Percy said, slapping his back.

Arthur took his seat. “You sound surprised.”

“You’re usually too busy to come out.”

“Thought I’d make sure you weren’t in any trouble,” Arthur joked, grabbing Percy around the shoulder in a tight squeeze that Percy weaseled out of with a laugh.

“Never,” he replied. “You want a pint? Or do you have to get up early to plan your wedding?”

“Sod off.” Arthur gestured to the bartender over the crowd, receiving a nod in return. “I spent all morning being dragged to churches.”

“Sounds like a right treat.”

Arthur didn’t reply, too exhausted to even try to be upbeat about his situation with Elena. 

“Thanks, Cedric,” Arthur said instead as the bartender set down the pint on the table.

“Hey, haven’t seen you round these parts lately,” Cedric said, cocking a hip to the side and smiling sweetly at Arthur.

“Been busy.”

“That’s too bad. I’ve missed you.”

“’Fraid I don’t have much time for pubs,” Arthur replied, flashing him a tired smile. 

Cedric wrinkled his nose as he laughed. “You should really come around more often.”

“Thanks.” Arthur tipped his glass at Cedric, and Cedric seemed to huff as he turned back to the bar.

Percy leaned over as Arthur took a long drink. “I don’t know why you don’t just shag him and then you won’t have to listen to his horrible flirting.”

Arthur coughed as he choked, wiping his mouth and shooting Percy an exasperated glance.

“Cedric doesn’t—”

“He only comes over to chat when you’re here,” Percy pointed out, lifting his mug. “I swear, mate, if you were any thicker, you would never get a romp.”

Shaking his head, Arthur chanced a glance at Cedric, only to find Cedric watching him. Cedric smiled widely and waved as he saw Arthur looking. Arthur turned back to his beer.

“I’m engaged,” he said simply. Cedric wasn’t exactly his type - short and shaped a bit like a rectangle, but then, Merlin wasn’t exactly his type either, and he sometimes found himself drifting into fantasies of Merlin on his knees, Merlin stripping off his clothes, Merlin’s mouth sliding down his cock.

“How’s that going?” Percy asked, trying for sincerity, but it came off as sarcastic, and Arthur took another long drink. “Has she let you shag her yet?”

Arthur almost shuddered at the thought of sex with Elena. “No, we haven’t.”

“Pity. She’s pretty easy on the eyes.”

“And the mind. Her only productive thought all day was if roses grew towards the sun, why weren’t they taller?”

Percy laughed, slapping Arthur’s shoulder again. “If you shag, she won’t have to talk.”

“Except for the fact that I’d much rather shag a bloke.”

“Cedric’s right over there.”

Sighing, Arthur drained the last of his drink. “You know I can’t.”

Percy sighed as well. “Chivalrous to the very end, even to the girl you can’t stand.”

Arthur didn’t contradict him, though he wouldn’t have said he disliked her that much. Instead, he pushed his chair back. “I’m going to get another pint.”

“I wish you luck,” Percy said as he headed to the bar. “Lots of luck.”

*

“You have been to the British Museum before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have,” Arthur replied, shaking his head and smiling at Merlin as he pulled open the door and let him go in first. He didn’t mention that he hadn’t been since an outing in primary school, but that wasn’t important.

“Just wanted to check,” Merlin said, passing right by Arthur without a thank you. “Sometimes the most cultured people are just pretending.”

“I went to Oxford.”

Merlin shrugged, grinning over his shoulder as Arthur followed him into the large entrance area of the museum. It did look different than he remembered.

“Doesn’t prove anything except that you’ve got money.”

Arthur rolled his eyes and crossed the lobby with Merlin.

He wasn’t exactly sure how he’d been talked into coming to a museum, but a part of him felt like he would agree to anything Merlin suggested. The thought made him uneasy, but he didn’t fight it, and when it gave him the opportunity to check out Merlin’s bum as they climbed a flight of stairs, he didn’t protest.

All things considered, Arthur thought he was rather good at this being mates thing. It had been almost two weeks since they’d shagged and they were getting along pretty well.

“So what are we here to see?” he asked as they reached the second floor.

“Anything. Everything. Nothing.” Merlin paused. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in taking a look at the chalices?”

“Chalices?” Arthur repeated, arching an eyebrow at Merlin’s hopeful expression. “This is for your thesis, isn’t it?”

“No! Well, yes, but I invited you because I knew you would appreciate it. You know, chalices made in England are extremely rare.”

Arthur didn’t know what it was about Merlin that made him laugh and silently agree to go look at golden cups, but there was something. 

“How does this relate to your thesis?”

“Chalices are often regarded as religious artifacts, and as a part of my research, I’m researching the medieval belief systems.”

“You mean you’d rather look at cups than chain mail?”

“No, we can look at that too. Knights were said to be very fit. I bet the chain mail was a big turn-on.” Merlin grinned at him as they headed into the room filled with artifacts. 

Arthur eyed him, a stirring in his gut rising that he quickly tamped down. 

“Pretty sure you wouldn’t have been a knight then.”

Merlin had the good grace to act surprised. “Are you saying I’m not fit? We can’t all be like you.” He reached over and poked Arthur’s stomach.

Arthur caught his wrist, meeting Merlin’s amused eyes. Merlin’s skin felt soft and smooth under his fingers, and it took Arthur a second too long to clear his throat and release it. As he glanced over, he caught Merlin rubbing the spot he’d touched him. His heart squeezed and he forced himself to focus on the golden chalice in front of him.

“So what happens when you drink from the chalice?”

“Nothing special,” Merlin replied. “It was said that old magicians could turn water into wine.”

“Can you?”

Merlin paused thoughtfully. “I could change grape juice into wine.”

Arthur laughed. “I’m not sure that’s the same thing.”

“Of course it is!”

“I meant magic.”

“I make a mean balloon giraffe.”

Arthur crossed his arms, lips pressed together. “Impressive.”

Merlin laughed, shoving Arthur’s arm. “What do you want? I’m only a mere mortal.”

“I guess I expected more from Merlin the magician.”

Merlin only pretended to be hurt. “If I was a real magician, I certainly wouldn’t use magic for party tricks.”

Arthur turned back to gaze at the chalice. It was rather nice, if he thought about it. He imagined what it must have been like for kings to drink out of such things at fancy parties and feasts. The fascination didn’t last long, though, considering it seemed an awful lot like how he’d grown up, except instead of chalices, it had been wine glasses with dinner and parties for his father’s business colleagues that he had found tedious and boring.

“If I had magic, I would magic myself out of this wedding.”

He knew Merlin was looking at him, but he was glad when Merlin said nothing about it.

“Let’s go look at the chain mail. It’ll help my thesis, no really.”

Arthur let Merlin pull him away from the chalice and thoughts of growing up and what was to come.

*

“What about Alice?” Arthur suggested, staring at the list of names in front of him. Next to him at the conference table, Leon looked up from his list.

“She’s been with the company nearly twenty years.”

Arthur sat back in the creaking chair, plush gold fabric rough against his back. “I realize this isn’t an easy task, Leon, but the merger can’t afford to keep everyone if we want to grow. Cuts need to be made.”

He had dreaded this all week, putting off deciding who to let go and who to keep, but Uther had made it clear that it needed to be done, and Arthur wasn’t one to disobey direct orders.

“How about Anhora? He’s getting up there. We could offer him early retirement.”

Leon didn’t look completely comfortable with the suggestion, but he made a note next to Anhora’s name. Setting down his pen, he glanced up at Arthur.

Arthur suspected he was about to ask the question that everyone asked - how was the wedding planning going? - but he didn’t particularly want to answer it, so he scanned the list for another name.

“George has had a few write-ups,” he said before Leon could ask any questions. “Perhaps we should let him go as well.”

“I thought George was quite good at his position.”

“He can’t take criticism,” Arthur pointed out, circling George’s name. “A good employee takes advice and learns.”

Leon picked his pen back up, and Arthur paused this time, staring at the list of names, of people he had known for years. Deep down, he knew it had to be done. Cuts had to be made for the growth of the company in the long run. That didn’t make things any easier.

“Am I meant to bring a gift this weekend?” Leon asked abruptly, and Arthur blinked.

“Sorry?”

“I’m not sure on engagement party etiquette,” Leon went on. “I’ve never been to one. Are gifts expected?”

The engagement party. Arthur’s stomach sank as he remembered. Now that the official announcement had been made to the press, Uther had somehow arranged a party for him and Elena. Everyone at the company was invited as well as other friends and family. Arthur was sure he wouldn’t know half the guests, but he rarely did.

“I don’t know,” Arthur said slowly. He had no idea what the expectations were for himself let alone the guests. He wished he could invite Merlin so at least he could have someone to talk to, but he thought perhaps that would be too awkward considering the situation.

Leon frowned slightly, tapping the pen against his mouth. “Perhaps I’ll just bring wine.”

“Always a good idea,” Arthur agreed. He could definitely use some wine this weekend. In fact, he could use some right now, but he pushed the thought from his mind and set back to the list. “We have three more to cut. Let’s just get it over with.”

Leon appeared about as pleased as Arthur felt about the task, and they both settled in to choose three more.

*

_What are you doing right now?_

Arthur glanced quickly at his phone, juggling it around the glass of champagne in his hand and checking that no one at the party was looking as he typed in his response.

 _At my engagement party_.

He stuffed the mobile out of site as Elena joined him, slipping an arm around his.

“This is lovely,” she commented, gesturing at the room that had been specifically reserved for the afternoon. It was high up, overlooking the river, every table covered with a lacy white cloth, waiters in crisp shirts offering trays of food to the guests. “Uther is really quite generous.”

Arthur glanced over to where Uther was talking and laughing with his brother-in-law. They appeared to be having a wonderful time while Arthur waited impatiently for Merlin to respond to his text.

He ought to have been enjoying the party. It was for him and Elena after all, but instead, he could only think of how much he wished it was over.

“Are you hungry?” he asked instead of responding to her question. “I could get you something.”

“Oh!” She sounded surprised at his offer and smiled. “Yes, I’d love to try that mushroom thing I saw going around. Could you find me one?”

“I’ll be right back.” He slipped free of her arm just as his mobile vibrated.

_Fancy. Does it come with tiny foods on silver platters?_

Arthur smiled to himself as a waiter passed by with the mushrooms, but he didn’t take any.

_Would you prefer it didn’t?_

_I’m not there to enjoy it, am I?_

For a moment, Arthur wasn’t sure what to say. Inviting Merlin had seemed like a bad idea, but now he wished he had. Maybe Merlin would have been more comfortable with it than he guessed. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Merlin and Elena meeting, though, despite the fact that Merlin was just his friend.

“Who are you texting so secretly?”

Arthur gave a start, jumping back half a foot at Morgana’s voice in his ear.

“Morgana,” he said, pressing a hand to his chest and feeling the frantic beating of his heart at being both caught and surprised. He turned to face her. She merely smiled. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Quite,” she replied, taking a sip of champagne. “Uther throws very nice parties.”

“Yes,” Arthur agreed. “How’s Sophie Anne?”

“Fine.” Morgana glanced around the room, her eyes landing on Elena. “She’s begun taking piano lessons.”

“Oh, does she like them?”

Morgana didn’t reply for a moment, looking back at Arthur. “Have you spoken with Gwaine lately?”

“Gwaine?” Arthur frowned at the question, suspicious as it was. “No, why?”

“You did break up rather abruptly,” she said, taking another sip. “I imagine he was upset.”

Arthur frowned. “Gwaine is a tough bloke. I’m sure he’s bounced back by now.”

“And you don’t miss him at all?”

“It wasn’t really anything serious.”

Whatever he and Gwaine had, it wouldn’t have lasted. He had known that from the very first time he had met Gwaine and Gwaine had invited him back to his ridiculously messy flat for a shag ten minutes later. He didn’t miss Gwaine aside from the sex and Gwaine’s complete lack of ever being serious. He could have used a sense of humor to get through this afternoon.

His mobile vibrated again but he forcefully didn’t check it as Morgana’s eyes moved to it. He slid his thumb up to cover the name on the screen.

“It’s admirable how well you’ve adjusted to the idea of getting married on such short notice,” Morgana said instead. “I had thought you would put up a bit more of a fight.”

Somehow, Arthur knew it wasn’t a compliment, not coming from Morgana. 

“It will make Father happy and it’s a good move for the company,” he said, parroting all the things he’d been told in the past few months. Perhaps if he said them, he could convince himself as well.

“And we wouldn’t want to upset Uther,” Morgana replied, finishing off her glass. She smiled tightly. “Good luck, Arthur.”

She left him alone with an uneasy curl to his stomach. 

His mobile vibrated again and he pulled it out this time to see two new messages.

_Want to come to mine tonight?_

_If you’re not busy._

Arthur glanced up as the tray of mushrooms passed him by again. Elena stood by the window, giggling at something Uther said to her, and Morgana stood to the side, a complacent smile on her face.

 _No_ , he wrote, _I’m not busy_ , and hit send.

*

Arthur wasn’t sure he’d ever been in this part of London, at least not when he didn’t need to hop on the train to Paris for business trips. The area around King’s Cross station, though filled with fast food restaurants and tourists fresh off the train, wasn’t completely terrible, and he found Merlin’s flat with relative ease, climbing up four flights of stairs to finally reach it.

He knocked on Merlin’s door and stood back to wait, tamping down the nerves bubbling up. He wasn’t there to do anything aside from talk and spend time with a friend.

The door opened a moment later and Merlin stood there, barefoot on the wood floor.

“Hey,” Merlin greeted him with a smile, opening the door wider to let him in. “I was thinking we could order in. Do you like Thai food?”

“Sure,” Arthur agreed, shutting the door behind him and turning to take in Merlin’s flat.

It was about a quarter the size of Arthur’s own, practically a studio with the kitchen butting up to the living area. Merlin had managed to squeeze in a small sofa and a chair, though there was no coffee table, and the small television sat propped up on what looked like a nightstand, the DVD player sitting on the floor below it. Peeling wallpaper revealed brown walls behind them, but it only added to the charm.

“Welcome to my palace,” Merlin said as he rummaged through drawers in the kitchen and pulled out a takeaway menu. 

Though it was cramped, there was a certain something about it that made it feel comfortable. The wall behind the television was plastered with documents and photocopied pictures of chainmail and knights. Arthur squinted at one document - an essay on Charlemagne and the division of Europe.

“You like spicy food, right?” Merlin asked from the kitchen, his mobile up to his ear.

“Yeah, sure.”

As Merlin ordered, Arthur continued his exploration of the small living space. In the corner, a small white rabbit thumped at Arthur from its cage on the floor. Merlin’s DVDs were piled in an uneven stack on the floor, a strange mix of romantic comedies, action films, and “smart” films as Elena would have called them.

“It’ll be here in fifteen,” Merlin said, rounding the couch and tucking his mobile away. “See anything you like?”

Arthur glanced up at him, his eyes scanning from Merlin’s bare feet to his loose shirt, smooth lines of his neck and soft, pink lips.

DVDs. He was talking about DVDs, Arthur reminded himself.

“Whatever you like is fine.”

Merlin squeezed past Arthur in the small space between the couch at the television, and Arthur could feel the press of his body as he passed. He purposefully didn’t move back.

Merlin either didn’t notice or ignored it, gazing at his pile of DVDs.

“How about something completely historically inaccurate?”

Arthur laughed. “Sounds good.”

Merlin picked out a case, standing and popping it in the player. Arthur finally moved back, taking a seat on the somewhat lumpy sofa. Merlin flopped down a second later, grabbing the remote from where it was wedged between the cushions and turning on the television.

“So how was your party?” Merlin asked as the previews plays on the DVD.

Arthur paused. “You know that feeling when you’re at the grocers and there are only two people in front of you but the one at the register is trying to make exact change and can’t find it all?”

Merlin smiled as he nodded.

“Like that.”

Merlin stretched his legs out, wiggling his toes. “I know you have to get married, but do you really have to marry someone you find so boring?”

Arthur would have argued that Elena wasn’t boring, but it was so true he couldn’t even muster the energy. Perhaps to someone else, she would be fascinating, but to him, it was like spending time talking to a rock.

“Her father runs the corporation we’ll be merging with. It is a sound business decision.”

“I thought arranged marriages went the way of the horse and carriage. Aren’t they supposed to be about love? I mean, we, or well, I can’t marry a bloke if I wanted to, so I’d be glad to even have the chance.”

Arthur didn’t admit to feeling the small pang as Merlin changed the “we” to “I” as if Arthur somehow didn’t count. He probably didn’t considering he was all set to marry a woman despite his sexual preferences.

“Yeah,” Arthur agreed after a second.

“Don’t be sad,” Merlin said, nudging Arthur’s thigh with his. “I’m sure you two will have perfectly posh children who wear bows in their hair and call you ‘Mother’ and ‘Father.’” He laughed when Arthur gave him a disgusted look.

“I hope when you have children, they call you ‘Oy, Old Man.’”

Merlin’s eyes crinkled as he laughed harder. “If only I’ll be so lucky.”

“You don’t think you’ll have kids?”

Merlin shrugged, skipping ahead to the main menu on the DVD. “You heard Gwen. I’ll probably never find someone to do that with. I’m a bit strange.”

“Everyone’s a bit strange,” Arthur pointed out, inexplicably sad at the thought of Merlin growing old alone.

“I’m a bit stranger than most,” Merlin said, biting his lip as he smiled easily. “Clyde would agree, wouldn’t you, Clyde?”

He glanced over his shoulder at the rabbit, which only flopped down onto its side and ignored him. Merlin shrugged.

“I like that you’re strange,” Arthur said without thinking, heart contracting as Merlin met his eyes.

“I’m glad,” Merlin said finally, and Arthur felt the urge to lean forward and kiss Merlin, but just as the thought started to cement, a knock came on the door. “That must be the food.” 

Merlin jumped up from the couch and Arthur leaned back, shaking his head. He watched Merlin pay for the food, laughing at whatever the delivery guy said. He must have ordered from this place frequently.

“Thank, mate, I’ll see you later!” Merlin waved off the bloke and shut the door. He turned to Arthur, holding up the bags of food. “Dinner.”

Arthur said nothing as Merlin brought it over, pausing to dig forks out of the kitchen drawer. He shouldn’t have been thinking of kissing Merlin, especially since Merlin didn’t seem to be thinking of it at all judging by the way he had jumped up to get the door. Maybe Merlin was better at this mates thing than he was.

“Here.” Merlin handed over a box and Arthur took it.

“Thanks.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Merlin said, reaching for the remote and finally hitting play on the DVD. “But I’m always really annoying when I watch films with other people. Feel free to give me a shove if I talk too much.”

“I will,” Arthur agreed, and Merlin grinned, settling in next to Arthur to watch the film.

*

Somehow, April had turned into May without Arthur realizing it, October seemingly creeping closer and closer. The only bright spot was Merlin. Over a month had passed since they’d met, though Arthur could hardly believe it. Between texting and meeting up for films or Merlin dragging him to see the new exhibit of swords at the museum (Arthur had teased him heavily for that one), they’d fallen into an easy routine that Arthur hardly batted an eye at.

It was a nice break from the mounds of work piling up on him at the office where Uther insisted on knowing every detail of the merger, right down to exactly who was being let go and why and how Godwyn’s people were being incorporated.

“More financial reports from Owain,” Gwen said as she entered with a stack of papers in her hands and placed them on Arthur’s desk.

To his credit, Arthur didn’t groan, although he did glance up when Gwen didn’t immediately leave.

“Is there something else?”

Gwen seemed to be making a decision about something as she hesitated. “I was just wondering—no, never mind.”

She turned but Arthur frowned.

“Gwen, what is it? You can ask.”

Gwen turned around slowly, fiddling with the ring on her right hand nervously. “I just wanted to know if you knew of any good ring shops.”

“Ring shops?” Arthur’s eyebrows furrowed. “You mean jewelers? Why do you—oh my god, Gwen, did Lance propose?”

Arthur hadn’t thought Gwen could blush this much as her face went bright red, but she nodded, and Arthur was out of his chair in a second, pulling her into a hug.

“Congratulations!”

When he let her go, the pink had receded slightly and she wore a stupid grin. 

“He asked last night. We went to the London Eye and he asked right at the very top.” She couldn’t stop smiling now. “But he doesn’t have a ring, so we were going to go look together.”

“That’s fantastic, Gwen!” Arthur couldn’t believe it. “I’m really happy for you.”

Gwen beamed. “It’s only been a few months, but I could just tell, you know? We have so much in common and we get along so well. It’s like it was meant to be.”

Arthur nodded. “Sometimes you just know, right?”

Gwen nodded, unable to get her grin under control. “Yes, I suppose you do. I should get back to work.”

As she left, Arthur sunk into his chair. Gwen and Lance engaged after only a few months. He hadn’t seen that coming, at least not so soon. He wondered if Merlin knew, although he probably did since Gwen was his best friend. 

The thought of Merlin made his heart swell and he smiled to himself and pulled out his mobile to text him.

 _Free this weekend?_ he typed, sending the message.

Arthur had plans only to meet with Elena and the wedding planner for what had to be the thousandth time in a month. How many decisions could there possibly be to make about flowers and food? The prospect of seeing Merlin would make it all that much more bearable.

His phone vibrated.

_Going to Edinburgh._

Arthur stared at the words on the screen. Merlin had never not been free before.

_For how long?_

_Four days._

_Why?_

It took Merlin a few minutes to respond this time. In the meantime, Arthur’s heart seemed to beat faster, although he didn’t know why. 

_Research for my thesis. Have to look up files in dusty Scottish libraries._

Arthur didn’t know why Merlin’s response made him feel anxious. He didn’t want Merlin to go, although that made no sense at all. 

_Can’t you do it here?_

_Leaving tomorrow. Be back late Monday._

Arthur frowned at the words on his screen. He didn’t like them, but there was nothing he could do to stem the twisting feeling in his gut. 

_Have fun_ , he forced himself to type, setting the mobile aside despite the answering vibration of a text. 

Perhaps this was what he needed, he told himself, to be able to focus on work and the wedding, although the thought only seemed to make the pit in his stomach worse.

*

“How do you feel about finger foods?”

Arthur wasn’t sure how long they’d been sitting in the office that smelled strongly of peonies and had framed photographs of roses on the walls, but it was long enough that his temples had begun to throb. It had started off small enough, but after they’d passed the second hour, he really needed something to numb the boredom of discussing finger foods, cake flavors, and how many guests they would actually be inviting to both the ceremony and the reception.

A steady rain fell outside the window, and Arthur would have given anything to be at home with the radiator on and a good book, but instead, he was forced to answer the question when the planner looked to him first.

“Er, well, being that it’s going to be quite a traditional wedding, I suppose a catered meal would do better. I’m not sure my father would approve of the casualness of finger foods.”

He tried to imagine the face Uther would make when faced with pigs in a blanket as food at the reception, but he couldn’t quite manage it. 

A similar look of regret at the suggestion passed over the wedding planner’s face, and she nodded her head, obviously remembering their search for the reception location.

Beside him, Elena fiddled with a ribbon on her dress, entirely unconcerned with what type of food they should serve, and Arthur wondered why he had to be there at all. He had no interest in the menu, and cake tasting was something he would leave to Elena. He had never really had a sweet tooth.

The longer he sat there, the more he wished he was anywhere else. Rain formed little rivulets on the window pane, dribbling down, and the sky darkened so that five in the afternoon became like eight.

He only wanted to get home, take a nice, long, hot shower, and take a good book to bed.

The meeting dragged on, though, and he struggled to pay attention to what the woman was saying. 

He wondered if the wedding planner picked up on the strange arrangement before her, him and Elena and the fact that the closest they got to romance was holding hands. He was sure they didn’t act like the typical engaged couple. Gwen came to mind as he squinted at the black and white photograph of roses behind the desk. Gwen blushed at the mere mention of Lance, and when he had asked, she had already talked excitedly about her ideas for the wedding.

“Arthur?”

Elena spoke and Arthur realized both she and the wedding planner were looking at him.

“Sorry, what?”

“I guess that means no,” Elena said cheerfully, but Arthur was lost.

“Sorry?”

“Cake tasting,” she repeated herself. “Do you want to come on Monday?”

“I’m really not too fond of sweets. I’m sure whatever you pick will be fine.”

Elena seemed satisfied with his answer. As long as Uther didn’t find out, he probably wouldn’t have to go.

“Have we finished then?” he asked hopefully, and the planner seemed to deflate, but she gave in.

“That’s all for now.”

Grateful, Arthur stood and pulled on his jacket, glancing out the rain-streaked window. 

He and Elena left, taking the lift down to the first floor. They stood by the front doors for a moment, watching the rain, and Elena pulled on her coat over her dress.

“I’m really looking forward to the cake,” Elena said as they stood there.

Something in her voice made Arthur pause, rather than dismissing it as her usual nonsense. She gazed out the glass door, a melancholy expression on her face.

It was gone in a second, though, as she shook her head.

“Shall we get a taxi?”

“Sure,” Arthur agreed, watching her closely, but the sadness was gone. He stepped through the doors instead and hailed a passing cab, rain soaking his coat.

*

Rain pattered against the bedroom window, and the lamplight spread slowly to the walls, but the book just couldn’t hold his attention.

The clock on the wall told him it was nearly ten at night – not exactly late but too late to go do anything. Setting down the book, Arthur sighed and marked his place. He wasn’t going to get any reading done.

He wasn’t sure what was distracting him – he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something tugged at the back of his mind as he sat in bed, warm and comfortable. He wanted to do something, but the thought of getting up and going somewhere seemed completely unappealing at the moment.

Setting the book on the nightstand, his eyes fell on his mobile. It had been mostly silent for two days, since he had last texted Merlin.

Merlin was in Scotland, though, far away, too far to be able to come over and have a pint and argue about which book to movie adaptations could be viewed as a fair try.

It had been two days since he had talked to Merlin, though. Two days.

Two days wasn’t that long in all honesty, but it made Arthur want to say something, so he grabbed his mobile and typed in a message.

_How are the Scots treating you?_

When no response came right away, Arthur wondered if Merlin was already asleep, though it wasn’t that late. 

His mobile vibrated a few minutes later, though.

_Help. They’ve got me chained up in the dungeon keep._

Arthur smiled, the familiar feeling of warmth he got whenever he talked to Merlin filling him. 

_And they didn’t take your mobile?_

_Scots are tricky._

Arthur chuckled, sinking down onto his bed instead of sitting up. For a moment, he imagined Merlin doing the same, lying in bed in some cheap motel in Scotland and smiling at his messages.

 _How’s London?_ Merlin wrote.

_Same as always._

Merlin didn’t text back immediately, but there wasn’t much to respond to. For a long moment, Arthur gazed out the darkened window, listening to the rain. He imagined Merlin doing the exact same, although he wasn’t even sure it was raining in Edinburgh. Merlin was probably in just his underpants, ready for bed, hair ruffled and mussed in a way that made Arthur wish he was there with Merlin.

Grabbing his mobile, he looked up Merlin’s name and hit send, raising it to his ear.

It rang a few times before Merlin picked up. 

“Hi,” he said, speaking softly as though afraid of disrupting the neighbors.

“Hi,” Arthur replied, settling down on top of the coverings. “What are you doing right now?”

“Talking to you?”

Arthur could hear the smile in Merlin’s voice even through the sarcasm.

“Is it raining there?”

“A little, yeah.” There was a pause. “Did you call to ask about the rain?”

“No.”

“Then why did you call?”

Arthur shrugged and then realized Merlin couldn’t see. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it off his forehead. He really needed to get a trim, but he barely had time to eat let alone get a hair cut.

“Just wanted to say hi.”

“You could have texted me,” Merlin pointed out.

“I was texting you. Sometimes it’s nice to hear a voice connected to words.”

Merlin laughed quietly on the other end. “You have a nice voice.”

“Good to know.”

“Have you been drinking?”

Arthur scoffed. “No. Should I be pissed to want to talk to you?”

“No,” Merlin said simply. “I like that you called. It’s been a bit boring up here.”

“Well, you’re the one who went.”

“I had to. If I ever want to finish my doctorate, I have to finish my thesis. Despite what Gwen may say, I do want to finish and start living in the real world.”

“Don’t do that,” Arthur protested, closing his eyes and trying to picture Merlin lying on his hotel bed, the phone pressed to his ear, ready for bed. “Stay in Uni where it’s safe.”

“At some point I’ll have to finish,” Merlin pointed out. 

Arthur hummed in agreement. 

“So you’re coming back on Monday?” he asked instead, changing the subject.

“My train gets in late on Monday, yeah.”

“I wish you were here right now.”

Arthur didn’t know what made him say what he had been thinking, but the words came out of his mouth and there was no taking them back. When Merlin didn’t speak for a moment, he wondered if he should make up some excuse why he said that, but then Merlin made a small noise.

“Really? And what would we be doing right now?”

Stretching out, Arthur slid a hand down his chest, taking a deep breath. “Well, you wouldn’t have any clothes on.”

“Yeah?” Merlin asked, sounding curious. “Why not?”

“Because I would have taken them off.”

“Oh.” Merlin’s voice went softer, and Arthur hummed softly.

He usually tried not to think of this, to think of what it would be like with Merlin a second time, but after a month of no stimulation, it didn’t take much to send his imagination into overdrive. If he listened hard, he could hear Merlin’s breathing through the receiver, soft and steady at the moment.

His hand moved lower, slipping under the waistband of his trousers and circling around his cock.

“You can’t say you haven’t thought of it,” he murmured into the mobile, smoothing his hand over his prick. Things were a little too dry, and he reached over with his free hand, the phone cradled awkwardly against his neck, to reach for the lube in the nightstand drawer.

“I’ve thought about it,” Merlin replied quietly. 

Arthur groaned softly, the lube adding an easy slide to his palm over his prick as he jerked himself off. He moved slowly at first, stroking lazily.

“What have you thought of?”

His cock hardened as he stroked, eyes closed against the dim light filling the room, picturing Merlin jerking himself off, moaning his name.

“Arthur,” Merlin said instead, and that only made the blood rush to Arthur’s prick, the way the name rolled off Merlin’s tongue.

“Merlin,” he muttered, squeezing against the heat filling his body. “I want to do this to you, jerk you off, get you naked.”

Merlin’s only response this time was a soft exhale of breath in the receiver.

If he could get Merlin alone again, in his flat or even in Merlin’s, surrounded by historical mumbo-jumbo, he would get Merlin’s trousers off, get his hands underneath, watch the way Merlin’s eyelashes fluttered against his cheek as he got closer and closer to release.

Pressing his face into the pillow, Arthur bit back his groan, hand moving faster now as his cock strained in his grip. The rational part of his brain knew he shouldn’t have called Merlin, but listening to Merlin’s increasing pace of breath made it all worthwhile as he jerked himself off.

The throb of blood filled his prick, hot and heavy in his hand as he stroked faster. Merlin had to be doing the same thing. He knew from the slight hitch in breath he heard on the other end of the phone.

“Arthur,” Merlin whispered finally, voice high and breathy in the receiver. “We should…”

“God, Merlin,” Arthur groaned over him, wishing he was there, that he could touch him, drag his fingers over his sharp hipbones, plant his mouth along his collar bone and suck until it was bright red, bite down on his shoulder and shag him until they both couldn’t remember their names.

His hips pushed off the bed into his grip, the pressure building under his skin as he got closer. It had been over a month since he’d gotten off, and it was obvious from the way he didn’t hold back his gasp, trying to focus on Merlin’s noises on the other end.

Where Merlin had been loud the first time, now he was quiet, making small, barely-audible noises. Little huffs and half-moans, small exhales into the receiver, and he didn’t speak anymore.

Arthur didn’t care, twisting his wrist in just the right way to make the feeling in his stomach tighten, a hot flush rising along the back of his neck as his hand moved. It wouldn’t take much, just a few more strokes before he rolled to the side, buried his face in the pillow and muttered, “Fuck.”

He came on his hand, wet and messy, hand shaking as he pulled it away, and wished he had a towel to clean up with. 

For a second, he said nothing, taking a deep breath and letting it out. The phone had slipped from his hand, and he pulled it back to his ear.

“Merlin?” he asked. “Did you…?”

“Almost,” Merlin seemed to choke, and Arthur heard a muffled moan as if he had buried it in a pillow. “Oh, oh, shit!” Then there was silence aside from Merlin’s harsh breathing.

Rolling onto his back, away from the wet spot on the coverings, Arthur opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t sure how he felt, but at least this time he didn’t have to kick Merlin out of his flat in a completely unceremonious manner.

“So,” Arthur said finally when the other end had gone silent completely. “You’re back on Monday?” He knew he had already asked, but he could find nothing else to say aside from taking back what they had just done, but he didn’t want to say it, not out loud, not to Merlin again.

“Yeah.”

Arthur paused. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”

“I guess so.”

He wanted to say something else, something about how much he wished he wasn’t getting married so he could date Merlin for real, so they could go out to brunch and spend Saturday mornings never leaving the flat, but he couldn’t force the words to come out, so he only sighed.

“Goodnight, Merlin.”

“Goodnight, Arthur.”

He hung up the phone and rubbed at his face. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

*

The actual date for the merger was set for August first. A fitting date, Uther had said, and as far away as it had seemed at the beginning, it crept ever closer. The merger was the least of Arthur’s worries, however, whenever he sat down and thought of Elena and the wedding. She had told him that she had chosen a cherry flavor for the cake, which Arthur wasn’t completely sure if that was a real cake flavor.

Sitting in his office, the door opened a crack, Arthur wasn’t actually doing any productive work, staring at his computer screen and the game of solitaire there. Gwen was on the phone, and he could hear the soft responses to questions.

It took him a moment to realize Gwen wasn’t on the phone and someone was actually in the office.

“You’re engaged? That’s wonderful!”

The smooth, practiced manner of the compliment could only be one person: Morgana.

Standing, Arthur crossed to the door and opened it to reveal Morgana leaning against Gwen’s desk.

“You must let me give you the name of the cake shop we used. It was simply divine. Have you set a date yet?”

Gwen looked slightly surprised at Morgana’s interest, but she smiled politely in return. 

“No, but it probably won’t be until next year at the earliest.”

“It’s good to wait,” Morgana advised her. “You’ll have more time to plan and less stress for the big day.”

“Morgana,” Arthur interrupted before she could give Gwen anymore unsolicited advice.

She glanced up at him, her usual smile gracing her face as she approached and gave air kisses.

“Arthur, you look well.”

“Thank you.” He frowned, glancing at Gwen behind her, but Gwen shrugged and shook her head. “What are you doing here?”

“I just came to see Uther,” she replied, sweeping her long hair over her shoulder. She seemed paler than the last time Arthur had seen her. “See how the merger was coming along.”

“It’s fine,” Arthur replied, wondering what she was really doing there. She had never shown much interest in the company, and he doubted a merger would be of any interest to her. 

“And Elena? I haven’t seen her in weeks. How are you two?”

Arthur paused, thinking back on the dinner they had gone to a few days ago. Most of the night had been spent in uncomfortable silence. They honestly had nothing in common that Arthur could find, and the prospect of spending the rest of his life with her seemed almost unbearable.

He hadn’t spoken much to Merlin either in the last week, and he wondered if perhaps he should never have called him that night. 

“She’s great,” he said finally, missing the flash of suspicion in Morgana’s face. “We’re still planning for the wedding.”

“That’s fantastic,” Morgana agreed easily. “You should both come over for tea sometime. Sophie Anne would love to see you and get to know her new aunt.”

“Yes, of course,” he agreed without thinking, the sense of duty kicking in. “We’d love to.”

“Lovely.” Morgana smiled as he kissed her cheek, mostly out of habit. “I’ll call you.”

“Good,” he said, keeping his smile on as she said goodbye to Gwen and left. It slipped from his face as she turned the corner into the hall.

He looked at Gwen, but Gwen said nothing, an uneasy look on her face as she turned back to her work.

Arthur didn’t know what it was that made her uneasy, but the same thing made him uneasy as well as he returned to his office and closed out the game of solitaire.

*

“How’s your thesis coming?” Arthur asked, watching Merlin pick at his chips. Around them, the small chip shop had only a few customers sitting at the plastic tables, fluorescent lights casting a harsh glare above them. They sat by the window, the street lamp from outside lighting up the damp ground.

Merlin glanced up, a half smile on his face, although Arthur wasn’t sure it was due to the question or a lingering awkwardness from the way Arthur had kissed his cheek when they’d met.

He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. The action had just sort of _happened_ without his permission. 

“It’s coming,” he replied, tossing away the chip and reaching for his drink instead. 

“When do you think you’ll be done?”

“Hopefully by December. It would be nice to be done with school.”

Under the table, Arthur felt Merlin’s foot brush against his, and he didn’t move his foot away.

Though it had been over a week since he’d seen or talked to Merlin, something lingered between them. Perhaps it was the fact that they hadn’t talked about the phone call in Scotland or that when he had seen Merlin, Arthur’s heart had stupidly skipped a beat. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he was glad to see Merlin again.

“What are you going to do once you finish?”

Merlin shrugged, stealing a chip from Arthur’s plate despite that his was still half-full. Arthur smiled to himself at the gesture but said nothing.

“Maybe I’ll get a real job. Can’t do kid’s parties forever.”

“But you like kids, don’t you?”

Merlin smiled. “Yeah, but pulling a lolly from thin air isn’t exactly impressive.”

“Can you do card tricks?”

Merlin laughed, shaking his head at Arthur. “Still not impressive. If I could make a tiger disappear, that would be impressive.”

“You’d have to move to Las Vegas for that.”

“I’m not one for hot weather,” Merlin said. His gaze flicked to the ring on Arthur’s finger, and Arthur had a sudden urge to hide it. “How’s the wedding planning?”

Arthur didn’t know why Merlin asked, why he even wanted to know. 

“It’s…fine,” he said at length. “Gwen seems excited about her wedding.”

Merlin leaned back in his chair, pushing a hand through his short hair. “I’m sure it will be all white dresses and flowers from here until the actual day.”

“She doesn’t seem that girly.”

“Weddings do strange things to people,” Merlin pointed out. 

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Arthur muttered, thinking of Uther’s desire to know every detail of the wedding planning. 

Merlin picked up a chip but didn’t eat it. Arthur wished this strange awkwardness would go away, but he didn’t know what to say to make it.

“If I ever get married, I’m just going to go to a judge and do it that way. It’s too much stress planning a wedding. It’s just a piece of paper to sign.”

“Don’t get married,” Arthur said quickly, stopping himself from reaching for Merlin’s hand.

Merlin frowned. “Why not?”

“Just don’t,” Arthur repeated, reaching for his drink and trying to ignore the way his stomach twisted as Merlin watched him and said nothing in return.

*

Despite the merger being several months away, there was more and more work to do, and Arthur found himself on Thursday evening sitting in the empty office going over financial reports and projections for the next five years. He had sent Gwen home hours ago and his stomach rumbled from the lack of dinner.

His head had started to throb the longer he sat there, going through lists filled with numbers. 

He really need a drink, he thought, but he couldn’t go get one until the work was done, and that didn’t seem to be happening any time soon. Instead, he tried to focus on the numbers, doing more calculations, double-checking each one and marking them down.  
Outside, the sky had darkened already, leaving the lights of the city to shine in, a mixture of orange, yellow, and greens pressing against the windowpane. 

Without thinking, Arthur pulled out his mobile, checking for messages, but there were none. He turned it over in his hand, debating doing anything. 

Finally, he gave up trying to work for now. He could take a short break. 

_You know what’s an overrated book? Romeo and Juliet._

He didn’t know why he wrote it, really, except that he had to say something. Something had changed since that night, that phone call, and he wanted to get things back to how they had been.

 _Why?_ came Merlin’s text. _Do you have it memorized?_

Arthur wondered how Merlin always responded so quickly. He never seemed to hesitate for more than a few minutes at a time.

_It’s unrealistic. They’re so young._

Arthur really should have been working since Uther expected the documents to be completed by Monday morning, and Arthur didn’t look forward to working through the weekend. Besides, he and Elena were meant to have tea with Morgana and Cenred on Sunday, another thing he wasn’t particularly looking forward to.

 _Love knows no age_ , came Merlin’s reply a minute later.

For a second, Arthur paused, fingers poised over the keyboard. He had to say something, if not to Merlin’s face at least to his mobile.

_I just want to say, about the other night, I don’t want things to be weird._

He really didn’t know what else to say except the things he couldn’t say like, he wished they could do it again; he wished they didn’t have to be just mates anymore.

The minutes stretched as Merlin didn’t reply right away, nerves curling Arthur’s stomach as he waited impatiently. He couldn’t focus on work, the piles of papers before him that still needed to be combed through. Uther didn’t trust only one person to look it over, and Arthur always seemed to find himself doing the work.

Still, Merlin’s response didn’t come, so Arthur forced himself to look away from the mobile. A watched phone never rang, or did that only apply to pots?

Numbers blurred before his eyes and he couldn’t focus, not when his mobile finally buzzed, vibrating on the desk. He snatched it up far too eagerly, opening Merlin’s message.

_As far as phone sex goes, you weren’t the worst I’ve ever had._

Arthur surprised himself by laughing at the message. 

_Glad to hear it,_ he sent back. 

Merlin was such an understanding bloke, Arthur thought as he set the phone aside, the bundle of nerves gone from his stomach. He almost couldn’t believe it. If the shoe had been on the other foot, Arthur doubted he would have reacted the same.

Reaching for the stack of documents, Arthur looked up sharply at the knock on the door.

He frowned, opening his mouth to ask who it was, but the door creaked open without his permission, and he was surprised to see Uther standing there.

“Father,” he said, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Still working on those numbers?” Uther asked instead of answering the question.

“Er, yes.” Arthur couldn’t figure out why Uther would be there that late, and he was even more surprised when Uther took the chair across from Arthur’s.

Uther leaned back, taking in Arthur’s office, the degree hanging on the wall, the tiny window overlooking the city.

“You know, Arthur, back when I started working at the company, my father took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew. I spent many a night working late in this very office. Things were different then. We didn’t have computers or mobile phones to do our work for us.”

Arthur didn’t completely understand what he was getting at nor why he was still there so late.

“I’ve often wondered if you were ready for this,” Uther went on thoughtfully. “But you taking so much responsibility in the merger, putting in effort to get to know Elena, committing to the wedding. Well, it really shows how much you’ve grown since the University boy who was red carded in football for breaking that young man’s ankle.”

“That was an accident,” Arthur reminded him.

“My point is that you’re growing into a fine young man, worthy of taking over the company when I retire. I’m rather proud.”

Arthur smiled at Uther, a glow filling him. He couldn’t remember a time his father had actually said something like that.

“Thank you,” he said finally, still a little taken aback.

His phone chose that moment to vibrate with a text, and Arthur glanced at the screen quickly, pulling it away before Uther could see Merlin’s name on the screen.

“Is that Elena?” Uther asked.

Hiding the phone under the table, the glow faded abruptly, and Arthur hesitated.

“Er, yes,” he lied, squeezing the mobile tightly.

“There’s no need for you to do all this tonight,” Uther said, gesturing at the documents. “You should go see your girl.”

Guilt gnawed at his stomach, but Arthur couldn’t argue as Uther rose from his seat and gestured him up. 

“Enjoy your youth while you can, Arthur.”

Arthur nodded, taking out the phone as Uther turned his back to leave. He clicked on Merlin’s message.

_I knew you would be._

The feeling of guilt only grew, and he grabbed his overcoat, flicking off the lights as he left.

*

He had to try harder, Arthur resolved. He had to try harder with Elena, and that was perhaps what made him take her hand as they stood in front of Morgana’s house and rang the bell.

Elena glanced at him as he did it, but she said nothing about it and Arthur hadn’t expected her to.

It wasn’t raining, though the sky was overcast as they waited for the door to be answered. The forecast had called for sun all week, but Arthur wasn’t sure that was right.

Finally, the door opened and Morgana greeted them, insisting on taking their coats.

“Go on to the sitting room,” she said, a bit too cheerful for Arthur’s liking. He hadn’t seen her like this since long before her and Uther’s blow up. 

Leading Elena by the hand, he guided her to the sitting room where tea and finger sandwiches were already set up on the coffee table.

Cenred sat sprawled in the chair near the mantle, legs spread wide and slumped halfway down. He looked wilder than Arthur remembered, his hair longer and a beard growing in on his face. It had, after all, been several months since he had actually been home when Arthur had come around.

“Arthur,” he greeted him, voice rough, and he didn’t rise to shake Arthur’s hand, instead gesturing at the sofa.

Arthur sat down alongside Elena, who was already admiring the deserts on the china.

“How’ve you been, Cenred?” Arthur asked politely, glancing back at the entranceway for Morgana, but she hadn’t returned from putting up the coats yet.

“Good, good,” Cenred replied vaguely. “Got a business deal going in France. Should be done by the end of the month.”

Arthur had never been completely clear on what business Cenred was in, but he nodded as though he did.

“Uncle Arthur!” Sophie Anne’s voice interrupted the awkward silence and she burst out of a hallway, excitement on her face. She hugged him tightly. “You haven’t been round lately.”

“I’ve been very busy,” he told her, and she glanced at Elena. Elena smiled at her fondly.

“With the wedding planning,” Sophie Anne said knowledgeably. “Mother says it’s going to be beautiful.”

Arthur looked up as Morgana returned. 

“I’m sure it will be,” Morgana said. “Sophie Anne, you have practicing to do.”

“Yes, Mum,” she replied obediently, giving Arthur another hug. “Will you say goodbye before you leave?”

“Of course,” he assured her. Her smile widened and it reminded Arthur of Morgana at that age, still so full of hope for life. He hoped she would remain that way.

She ran off, and a few moments later, Arthur heard the muffled plunking of piano keys.

Morgana sat down and began pouring the tea for everyone.

“Elena, I wanted to ask about the bridesmaid dresses,” she said, and Elena scooted forward on the couch attentively. “Are you completely set on the purple?”

“It is a lovely colour,” Elena said, quailing slightly under Morgana’s smile that seemed more threatening than friendly, despite the way Morgana handed over the cup of tea and a small cake.

Arthur had little interest in dress colours. He hadn’t even picked out his tie. As they talked, his hand went immediately for his mobile, but it wasn’t in his pocket.

He must have left it in his coat, he thought regretfully, but then he stopped himself. He shouldn’t have been thinking of texting Merlin, not when he was sitting next to Elena and Morgana and Cenred were right there. Elena may have been clueless as to what he was doing, but Morgana certainly wouldn’t be. There was no need to arouse any suspicions.

He ran his hand against his leg when the mobile wasn’t there, taking a sip of the scalding tea.

“Purple can just be so garish,” Morgana was saying, and Cenred yawned.

“I think it’s pretty,” Elena replied, almost unsure. 

“It’s only one day,” Arthur interrupted finally. “Surely it won’t be that bad. Elena likes it. That’s what matters.”

He may not have cared about dress colours, but he did care that Morgana didn’t walk all over anyone, whether or not he liked that person. Elena didn’t deserve her disdain, at the very least.

Elena looked grateful at his help while Morgana’s gaze transferred to him, cold for a second, but then she smiled easily.

“Of course, Arthur. I only asked out of interest.”

Though she handed him another cake, Arthur had a feeling her smile hid more than he knew.

*

“Wake up,” Arthur said, poking at Merlin’s leg that lay draped over his lap. From the other end of the sofa, Merlin glanced over at him, the television playing credits from the movie that had just ended.

“I’m awake,” he said easily, trying to push himself up, but he only managed to scoot up a few inches. He pushed at Arthur’s thigh with his toes, and Arthur tried not to think of how close Merlin was to sliding up his thigh to his crotch.

“What did you think?” Arthur asked, gesturing at the telly.

“I still say the books are better.” Merlin ran a hand through his ruffled hair, still looking half-asleep, though he had assured Arthur that he was awake the whole time. He looked adorably shaggable in Arthur’s opinion, and it took most of the restraint he had not to just crawl over Merlin, pin him to the sofa, and snog all the sense out of him.

“Books are always going to be better,” Arthur conceded. “But you have to admit that was a pretty decent adaptation.”

Merlin curled his lip, making a face that clearly said he hated that Arthur was right.

“Fine, it wasn’t terrible,” he admitted finally, laughing when Arthur shoved his legs off his lap finally. “Sorry, did I insult you?”

“Just the film,” Arthur said, getting up to stop the DVD and put it away.

Merlin only watched from the sofa, and Arthur thought he caught him checking out his ass as he turned around. Arching an eyebrow, he returned to the sofa and sat down, much closer to Merlin this time.

Beside him, Merlin sighed tiredly, setting his feet on the coffee table instead.

“Your flat is bigger than I remember,” he said, glancing around.

“You didn’t exactly get a tour the first time.”

Merlin smiled slightly, his hand running through his hair again, making it even messier. Arthur wondered if he did it on purpose, if he knew how sexy he was, how much it took for Arthur to stop thinking about getting him naked again.

He probably shouldn’t have even invited Merlin over, but the thought of not seeing Merlin made him feel worse than the thought of what this meant to him and to the wedding.

“You were a little busy,” Merlin replied, grin widening mischievously. 

“Well, you were a little demanding.”

“I am not demanding,” Merlin protested. 

“Okay, loud then.”

Merlin laughed. “Wouldn’t want your posh neighbours hearing your inappropriate relations with blokes, huh?”

“The walls are two feet thick,” Arthur pointed out. He hardly ever heard noise from the neighbours, but he also suspected they weren’t home frequently. In the three years he had lived in the flat, he hadn’t actually officially met the neighbours. Perhaps that was strange, but Arthur didn’t really mind.

“Mine are only an inch,” Merlin said, rolling his eyes. “I wish they were a bit thicker.”

“Don’t want your neighbours to hear you?” Arthur asked cheekily, and he was rewarded with an elbow to the stomach.

“Yes, they’re constantly complaining about my string of lovers,” Merlin replied sarcastically. “As you know, I can be loud.”

Arthur laughed, but even as he did so, his mind wandered to Merlin’s previous lovers. Had he had very many? Why was he single now? 

He couldn’t fathom why given Merlin’s intelligence, sense of humor, and the adorable way his eyes crinkled when he laughed. 

As he gazed at Merlin for a minute, and Merlin said nothing, he felt a pang in his chest, something he hadn’t felt before. He wanted every night to be like this, with Merlin in his flat, arguing about movies, Merlin’s feet in his lap, Merlin rubbing him off after a long day of work.

He wanted to be able to lean over and capture his mouth for a soft kiss, something that didn’t have to lead to sex, but if it did, all for the better. 

Arthur didn’t stop himself, then, when he moved forward, closing the gap between them. Merlin didn’t lean back either, out of his way, and their lips met for the first time in months.

The first kiss was soft, barely a press of lips against lips, but Arthur moved first, licking Merlin’s bottom lip and following the movement into his mouth.

Merlin let Arthur slip his tongue into his mouth, lips sliding together slowly, a soft, sensual kiss that made Arthur’s stomach flutter stupidly. Arthur raised a hand to Merlin’s jaw, caressing the skin with his fingertips as he kissed him again, pressing their mouths together harder. 

Leaning forward, he felt the brush of Merlin’s nose, the stutter of breath he took when their lips parted for a second. 

Arthur hadn’t kissed anyone like this in a long while, not even with Gwaine had it ever been like this, and certainly not with Elena, although he had barely kissed her on the cheek.

His weight pressed into Merlin as they leaned back on the sofa, lips never leaving the other, kisses slow and drawn-out. Arthur sucked on Merlin’s bottom lip, releasing it slowly and dipping his tongue back in his mouth as Merlin’s back pressed into the sofa. Arthur’s hand moved down to Merlin’s thigh, sliding up slowly.

“Wait,” Merlin said suddenly, breaking the kiss and reaching for Arthur’s hand. “Wait, Arthur, stop.”

“What?”

To his surprise, Merlin elbowed him up, wiping his mouth and scooting away from Arthur.

“We can’t do this.”

Arthur frowned. “Sorry?” He didn’t understand why Merlin was stopping something that was so good.

The light flush on Merlin’s cheeks slowly receded as he took a breath and met Arthur’s eyes. 

“I think I may actually really like you, Arthur, but I can’t keep going back and forth. Are we friends? Are we in some sort of weird relationship? I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say, the warmth that had filled him a second ago turning cold. 

“Well, we’re mates,” he said finally, but Merlin tilted his head with a frown.

“It’s more than that,” Merlin said. “It’s sometimes mates, sometimes more. You’re about to be married. I can’t just sit around and wait until you make up your mind.”

For a second, Arthur said nothing. Was this an ultimatum? 

“What are you saying?” he asked instead. “Are you saying you want me to just call off the wedding and ruin a whole company for you?”

Merlin sighed, looking frustrated. “When you put it that way…”

“I can’t do that.” Arthur rose from the couch, turning to stare at Merlin. How could he ask such a thing? “The company, and the wedding - I can’t.”

“I know,” Merlin said, rising as well and grabbing his jacket off the back of the sofa. “And that’s why I’m saying that I can’t do this either. I can’t be just your friend, and you can’t be anything else to me. So we might as well save ourselves any more trouble and just end whatever this is now.”

“What?” Arthur asked, somehow surprised all the same.

Merlin pulled on his jacket and headed for the front door. Arthur took a few steps towards him, intending to say something to stop him, but as much as it pained him to admit it, Merlin had a point.

Merlin turned at the door, a heartbreaking expression on his face. All Arthur wanted to do was grab him and cover his face with kisses until he stopped looking like that, but he couldn’t make his feet move, couldn’t make himself do anything except stare, his heart thudding loudly in his chest.

“I’m sorry,” Merlin said as he paused. “I wish things were different.”

He grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open, stepping into the hall and letting it shut behind him.

Arthur knew he should go after him, but there was nothing he could say to bring Merlin back. Nothing would change the situation, and instead of following him, Arthur leaned against the side of the couch and crossed his arms. There was nothing he could do, and he hated the pit in his gut as he sighed and remained in his flat.

*

“How is it that you’re getting wedding gifts already?” Gwen asked as she lugged an ornately-wrapped box into Arthur’s office and set it in the corner.

Arthur blinked, pulling his mind from where it had been replaying the conversation with Merlin over and over again. It had been almost a week, and he hadn’t heard from Merlin at all. It worried him, but he couldn’t call Merlin, not until he had some sort of solution or answer, but he’d been over all the possible avenues, and none of them were at all possible.

“I’m sure it’s just from some distant relative.” Arthur dismissed it, looking away from the shiny silver wrapping paper. He didn’t want to think about the wedding. It just made him feel slightly sick to his stomach even though it was still months off.

The merger, on the other hand, seemed to loom closer and closer with each passing day. Just earlier, Uther had come in and told him to fire Alice.

_“But she’s been with the company for years,” he argued._

_Uther turned over the facedown photograph of Arthur and Elena from the engagement shoot, setting it up on Arthur’s desk. Arthur kept it facedown most of the time so he didn’t have to look at his fake smile._

_“Godwyn wants to bring in his tech support team, and we must modernize to keep up with demand. I’ve already arranged for her to come to your office tomorrow morning. You can do it then.”_

_Arthur felt his stomach lurch. Of all people to do the firing, why did it have to be him?_

_Uther seemed to sense his hesitation as he gave Arthur a stern look. “You’ve got to have convictions, Arthur, or else people will walk all over you.”_

_“Yes, Father,” Arthur agreed despite himself. Firing Alice would be like kicking a puppy. Though she was old, Arthur had grown up with her, almost as a grandmother figure._

_“I expect it done tomorrow, and don’t forget to double-check those figures Leon will be sending over later.”_

_“Yes, of course,” Arthur said, holding in his exhale of breath until Uther left._

He was dreading the meeting with Alice, but he couldn’t seem to distract himself except with thoughts of Merlin which just made him feel worse, if anything.

Gwen came over and handed him a stack of papers. 

“Reports from Leon.”

Rubbing his face, Arthur forced himself to focus. He couldn’t let everything fall apart because of one bloke. Merlin wasn’t even that special, he tried to tell himself. “Gwen,” he said as she turned to leave.

“Yes, sir?”

“Can I ask you something?”

She raised her eyebrows questioningly, and Arthur hesitated. She was Merlin’s best mate after all.

“If there was someone who fancied you but he was tied up in something he couldn’t get out of, would you wait for him or would you move on?”

Gwen thought for a moment. “I suppose it would depend how much I liked him.”

“What if you didn’t know if he could ever get out of his situation?”

Arthur watched her nervously, hoping she wouldn’t question why he was asking. 

“Well, that would be a bit difficult, wouldn’t it,” she said after a moment. “I don’t know if anyone’s heart could take that.”

Arthur’s heart sunk as she said it, and he knew she was right as much as he hated it. He supposed there was nothing to do but accept his fate and try to make the most of it.

“Why do you ask?” Gwen asked, but Arthur shook his head.

“Just a friend’s situation,” he replied. “Thank you for the reports.”

Dismissed, Gwen gave him a strange look before she turned. Arthur squeezed the bridge of his nose before resolving himself to get back to work and leave thoughts of Merlin behind.

*

Arthur found himself wondering if it was possible to die from boredom as he sat on the bench next to Elena, watching a flock of ducks swarming the pond. 

Elena picked apart a piece of bread, periodically tossing it to the birds, which then swarmed around them. Arthur eyed them distastefully but he said nothing to Elena. She had been mostly silent since they had met up at the coffee shop.

Stimulating conversations was not something Arthur could add to the positives when it came to Elena. Sitting back, he put his hands behind his head and tried to enjoy the relatively nice weather.

“Maybe when we’re married,” Elena said finally, tossing away the rest of the bread and watching the birds fight over it, “we could get a bird.”

The idea made Arthur cringe. Birds were loud and smelled awful.

“I don’t really want a bird in my flat.”

“It wouldn’t be in your flat,” Elena replied. “It’ll be in the new house.”

“House?” Arthur sat up slightly. Elena nodded.

“My father showed me a house outside of town. It’s quite nice, though the upkeep may be a bit much. I’m not really one for cleaning.”

Where had Arthur been that he had missed the bit about buying a house? He had known all along that they would be expected to live together after the wedding, but he hadn’t expected to leave his flat. He quite liked his flat. It was in a great location - just a few blocks from the Chinese takeaway restaurant and an easy commute to the office, and he’d made it his own.

Living with Elena. He had put off the thought given that it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant idea. It conjured up images of silent dinners over a long, empty table, sleeping in a bed together for the rest of his life, strange projects that Elena would do to keep herself busy, purple washrooms.

The thought terrified him, he realized as he sat there, ducks quacking and pecking around their feet. The idea of marriage terrified him, especially to someone he barely knew. Although he had known Elena for months now, he still felt as if he had no idea who she was, what she liked, or what she thought.

She was a little bit of an airhead, dull, and all her topics of conversation went in one ear and out the other. How could he even consider spending the rest of his life with her?

Something in his chest contracted, squeezing his heart the more he thought of it. 

“Arthur?” she asked when he didn’t reply for a long moment. “Are you alright?”

Merlin’s flat wasn’t too far away, Arthur thought abruptly. If he took the underground, he could be there in five minutes. What would he say, though? That he didn’t want to go through with the wedding? That the idea of getting married made him feel sick? He couldn’t even say it to Elena, and she was watching him worriedly now.

Standing abruptly, he startled Elena.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“What?” Elena asked, standing as well. “Where are you going?”

Arthur didn’t have an answer except that he needed to get out of there before he did something stupid like have a panic attack. He’d never had one before, but thinking of the wedding and Merlin and everything else felt like life was spinning out of control.

“I just, I have a meeting I forgot about,” he lied, leaning in and pressing an automatic kiss to her cheek before hurrying away. He just needed to get away and figure things out. That was all.

*

Arthur spent the entire weekend attempting to convince himself that he could go through with this wedding. It wouldn’t be that bad. After they were married, he probably wouldn’t have to speak to Elena that much, although he knew Uther and Godwyn probably expected grandchildren.

Sex with Elena wasn’t something he could stomach thinking of, and it was that, perhaps, that was the last straw.

He called Merlin on Sunday night but it just went to voicemail. He hung up abruptly instead of leaving a message. What could he say to Merlin? He couldn’t ask his advice about this. Merlin probably wanted nothing to do with him.

He couldn’t marry Elena.

He just couldn’t. It would put everything in danger, but Uther had to listen to him. Arthur had absolutely no interest in marrying a woman. He couldn’t put himself through this torture. He couldn’t put Elena through this torture. He had to stop it somehow.

Resolving to tell Uther on Monday, Arthur went to bed and spent a fitful night tossing and turning along with the sea of nerves in his stomach.

By the time he made it to the office the next morning, he felt as if he hadn’t slept at all.

“Are you alright?” Gwen asked when he came in, dragging his feet and sweeping his hair from his eyes.

“Of course,” he said simply, straightening his tie and wondering just how sleep-deprived he looked.

He retreated to his office, and when Gwen brought in tea later, he barely muttered a thank you.

He had to do it, he told himself. He could do it. He could go in and tell Uther that he wanted to call off the wedding. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest time to do it, with the merger just over a month away now, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He didn’t want to wake up in an unfamiliar house with Elena in bed next to him and wonder where the time had gone.

Morning slipped by, the sun outside his window mocking his bad mood as he tried to draw up the courage to do it.

He nearly fell out of his chair when the intercom buzzed and Gwen’s voice crackled through.

“Sir, your father would like to see you in his office. It sounded urgent.”

“Thank you, Gwen,” he replied, taking a fortifying breath. His stomach coiled up into knots as he left his office and walked down the hall to Uther’s office.

Uther’s assistant wasn’t at her desk and Arthur walked forward and knocked on the door. He was told to enter and opened the door.

Uther’s office was about twice the size of Arthur’s, the entire back wall a glass window. Uther’s cherry wood desk took up half the space and the walls were covered with expensive works of art.

As a child, Arthur had been intimidated by the size of the space and now was no different.

Stepping forward, he didn’t take the chair before Uther’s desk, but stood with his hands on the back of it.

Uther looked up from his computer, a calculating tilt to his eyebrows. The snakes in Arthur’s stomach tightened nervously at the look. This would not be easy.

“Arthur, I wish to speak with you on an important matter,” Uther said, voice cool.

“I need to speak with you as well,” Arthur replied, watching Uther’s expression deepen.

“Oh?”

This was it. This was the moment of truth. If he couldn’t do it now, he never would.

“It’s about the wedding,” he forced out finally. “I can’t go through with it.”

To his surprise, Uther didn’t immediately explode. Instead, Uther stood from his chair, tapping his finger on the desk, expression dark.

“I suppose this has to do with that _man_ you’ve been seeing behind Elena’s back. _Merlin_.”

Arthur’s heart stuttered over a beat as Uther mentioned Merlin.

“Merlin?” he repeated, eyes wide, fear stealing over him as Uther looked at him, steel in his eyes.

“This wedding is not about you,” Uther said sternly. “And it’s certainly not about some poor boy who plays with card tricks. It is about you upholding your responsibility to this family and to this company.”

“Father, you’re not listening.” Arthur tried to explain, but Uther only shook his head. “I don’t love Elena. I don’t even like her that much. I like blokes! You know that!”

“Stop it!” Uther snapped, voice booming in the room. “This isn’t about what you want! This merger is an important step for the company, and you can’t go running around doing whatever you like. It’s time to take responsibility, Arthur. You will be getting married and that’s the end of it.”

Arthur stared at Uther for a second before his mouth opened again.

“Father, I can’t get married. I don’t want to. I understand the importance, but Elena and I have nothing in common. We’re two complete strangers.”

“You said the same thing in March, but yet you agreed. It’s that boy that made this change, isn’t it? You should forget about him. He has nothing to do with your future and the future of this company.”

“Maybe it was Merlin,” Arthur agreed. “But I tried to tell you before that I didn’t want to get married. I’m not ready, and Elena is not my match. Can’t you understand that?”

For a long moment, Uther surveyed Arthur, eyes narrowed, and then he tilted his chin up.

“Perhaps I was wrong to give you so much responsibility. Maybe this just isn’t the right fit for you. Morgana has indicated an interest in joining the company. Perhaps you would be happier that way.”

“Morgana?” Arthur frowned. He shook his head. “I don’t want to leave the company, Father. I just can’t get married.”

Uther paused for a long moment while Arthur felt fear bubbling inside him. 

“You should take the rest of the day off, Arthur,” he said finally. “Think about what you’re choosing.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say as Uther left him alone in the office. Slumping back against the desk, he bowed his head.

*

As much as Arthur tried to convince himself that he could do it, that he could take responsibility and do his duty for his father and for the company, when he sat down with Elena to have lunch a few days later, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Elena fiddled with her napkin after they’d ordered and the server had disappeared. 

Reaching for his glass of water, Arthur cleared his throat, although he wasn’t sure exactly how to start or even what to really say.

Elena only gazed out the window at the people passing by. 

The past few days at the office had been hell. Morgana had swept in, all friendly air-kisses, but something in her sprightly step made it clear she was thrilled with the new turn of events. Arthur couldn’t quite fathom why, but he had long learned not to trust Morgana’s motives.

Uther had refused to speak to him except to heavily imply that he was running the company to ruin before he even had the chance to take over the reins.

He had tried calling Merlin again, but it had only gone to voicemail. Was Merlin ignoring him? His texts went unanswered as well, and Arthur had stopped trying. Was he throwing all this away for someone who wouldn’t even talk to him? Was it really worth it?

Glancing up at Elena and seeing the way she blinked slowly out the window as if she had not a single thought in her brain, Arthur knew that, Merlin or no, he couldn’t go through with this wedding.

“Elena,” he said finally, and she looked back at him, reaching up to twirl a curl around her finger.

“Yes?”

He wasn’t sure how to say it in a way that wouldn’t completely hurt her feelings.

“Over the past few months,” he started slowly, feeling out his words. “I feel we’ve gotten to know each other to a certain extent.”

Elena nodded in agreement and let go of the curl. It sprang back up.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you.” He hesitated. “The thing is that I’m… not really attracted to women.”

To his surprise, Elena barely reacted. “My father did mention,” she said.

“Did he? Well, I know this wedding is important for everyone involved, and you’ve spent so much time planning it. I hate to see hard work go to waste.”

This was harder than he’d expected, especially as Elena just watched him, a curious tilt to her head as though waiting for the end. She was a very nice, if not scatterbrained, girl.

“It’s just,” he said finally. “I’m not sure I can do it. You’re very nice, but I’m just not ready for marriage, and not to someone I don’t love.”

He wasn’t sure how he expected Elena to react. Maybe she would cry or be stone cold like Morgana, or maybe she would just walk out.

He didn’t expect her to let out a relieved breath. “Thank you.”

“Sorry?”

“It’s not you, really. I just, I don’t want to get married either.” She shook her head. “You’re so nice and polite, but I just don’t like you that way, and since you would rather shag a bloke, I’m sure the feeling’s mutual.”

Arthur couldn’t believe it. Of all the reactions he had considered, relief had not been one of them.

“You’re alright with this?” he asked, slightly confused.

“Oh, yes.” She nodded her head fervently. “My father wouldn’t listen when I said I didn’t want to, but he and your father were so committed to the idea.”

“If only they could see.”

Elena watched him for a second, folding her napkin on the table. “There’s someone else, isn’t there?”

A wave of guilt crashed over him, even though he knew Elena wouldn’t be upset by it. He didn’t reply immediately and Elena fiddled with her fork.

“Whoever you’re always texting,” she said. “I’ve seen you smile whenever you get a new one. You didn’t smile like that at me. It’s alright. It’s better to have someone you care about than someone you’re forced into marriage with.” She laughed lightly, and for the first time, Arthur thought he may have underestimated her.

“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

“A lot of people say that.” Elena smiled and then paused. “Do you think we’ve ruined the merger?”

“I hope not.” Arthur sighed, thinking of Uther’s disgruntled expression every time they passed each other in the halls, of Morgana flouncing around as though she owned the place. 

“They’re adults,” Elena said, trying to sound hopeful. “They should understand, right?”

Arthur wasn’t so sure about that, but at least one thing had been settled, a weight lifted off his chest: there would be no wedding.

*

Arthur sighed as the call went to voicemail again.

“Hello, you’ve reached Merlin! I’m not here so leave a message and maybe I’ll ring you back.”

Merlin couldn’t possibly be avoiding him this much. 

“Sir,” came a voice from the doorway to the office, and Arthur looked up to see Gwen hovering there. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. Gwen, you can ask me anything.” He gestured for her to come in and she did, closing the door carefully behind her. She paused a moment, ringing her hands together slightly.

“I’ve been hearing some… things,” she said slowly, “about the company. Mr. Pendragon has been setting up an office for Morgana. He’s said I’m to be her new assistant.”

Arthur’s mouth dropped slightly. He couldn’t believe Uther would stoop so low as to take his assistant away from him. 

“Morgana requested me apparently,” Gwen went on, and things started to click. Morgana had requested Gwen. 

He had been thinking about his conversation with Uther for days now, and it had come to him that Uther had called Merlin a poor, card-playing boy. How had he known what Merlin did? How had he even known about Merlin? The only people who did were Gwen and Morgana, who had, in some respects, introduced them. And now Morgana was stealing away his assistant and even his position in the company.

He had known she wasn’t happy with Uther, but when had that become a vendetta against him as well? And what did she have to gain by coming into the company?

Having no answers to those questions, Arthur had been left to watch and wait, hoping something new would come to light.

“If it’s all the same to you,” Gwen went on, dropping her hands and smoothing down her skirt. “If you do leave the company, I would be happy to come with you.”

Her show of loyalty touched him in a way he hadn’t expected, and he smiled for a second.

“Gwen, that is so wonderful of you, but I’m afraid it won’t be necessary. I want you to be Morgana’s assistant.”

Gwen stared, clearly taken aback as his response. “I’m sorry?”

Arthur stood from his chair and rounded the desk, lowering his voice as he spoke. “Something is going on with Morgana and I need to find out what. If you voluntarily leave me for her, she will trust you.”

Gwen gazed at him for a long moment before she nodded. “I will do my best.”

“You always do.”

She headed for the door, pausing as she reached for the handle. “Merlin’s very lucky,” she said, leaving before Arthur could do more than open his mouth in surprise.

He didn’t go after her to ask what she meant by that. Of course Merlin had probably told her everything. He supposed he hadn’t given her enough credit either.

*

As lucky as Gwen may have thought Merlin was, Merlin didn’t seem to agree by the way he still hadn’t responded to a single call or text in the last week. Could he really hate Arthur that much? The thought worried Arthur, and it was all he could do to stop himself from doing something ridiculously stupid such as going to Merlin’s flat and blasting a cheesy eighties song through his iPod speakers. 

It was Tuesday when Uther stopped by his office. So far, Arthur had stopped doing most of his work, especially since Uther had started funneling it all over to Morgana. Morgana had stopped by only once to give him a smirk and ask how his work was going.

Arthur had wanted to slap the smile right off her face, but he’d merely returned the look and shut her out of his office.

He missed Gwen. It had only been a few days, but he had never realized how difficult it was to get his own tea in the mornings. 

The knock on the door startled him out of his staring competition with his mobile, willing it to ring with Merlin on the other end.

“Come in,” he said, sitting back in his chair, but he stood up as Uther stepped inside.

For a moment, Uther didn’t meet his eyes, glancing around the room. 

Arthur couldn’t fathom why he was here except to deliver the final blow and tell him to pack up his office for good. He had never thought his father would do such a thing, but being cut-off wasn’t something unheard of in their world. Arthur had just never expected it to happen to him, especially since he had always followed Uther’s every wish.

Finally, Uther cleared his throat. “Arthur, the merger takes place next month.”

Arthur frowned slightly.

“I expect you to be at the forefront of the project. No excuses.”

This only made Arthur more confused. “I don’t understand.”

Uther huffed out a sigh, raising his chin slightly. “Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on you,” he said, as though the words pained him to say. Arthur wasn’t sure he had ever heard Uther admit he was wrong. “You are still young and Godwyn assures me that despite the hiccup, the merger will go through. You and Elena are no longer engaged.”

For a moment, Arthur could do nothing more than stare at Uther and his inability to meet his gaze again.

“That’s—I mean, thank you, Father. I appreciate that.”

“Yes, well.” Uther clasped his hands behind his back.

“What about Morgana?” Arthur asked. Last he had heard, she had been put in charge of the companies finances.

Uther seemed to avoid Arthur’s gaze even more fervently now.

“It’s come to light that she and Cenred had plans I wasn’t aware of.”

“Plans?”

“She contacted Godwyn with a scheme to oust me from the company. Her assistant found emails detailing their plan, and Godwyn confirmed. Needless to say, I don’t think Morgana will be involved with the Pendragon Corporation any time soon.”

Arthur worked hard not to grin at Gwen’s accomplishment or the fact that Morgana hadn’t gotten her way. 

“I’m sorry to hear that, Father,” he said instead, and Uther shot him a look as though he knew what Arthur was thinking.

“Don’t think you’ve gotten out of this so easily,” Uther warned him. “You’ve still ruined an entire wedding. I expect you to be completely happy with this Merlin boy considering how much you were willing to give up for him.”

Arthur forced a smile, thinking of how Merlin hadn’t called him back in weeks.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Uther said, drawing himself up and looking uncomfortable again at the sudden influx of emotions into the conversation. “Your assistant will be back with you this afternoon.”

Arthur really did smile this time. Uther glanced at him one last time before turning and leaving without another word.

Now if only he could get Merlin to forgive him. Then maybe things would be okay.

*

Arthur didn’t know what he was doing. In a million years, he never thought he would be one of those people showing up on other people’s doorsteps with flowers and an apology in hand, but Merlin still hadn’t returned a text or call, and he was desperate. He had to tell Merlin what had happened, explain how he really felt, and somehow gain his forgiveness for how he had acted.

Knocking on the flat door, he stood back, nerves creeping through him. He held the flowers tightly behind his back, hoping Merlin wouldn’t find it cheesy or stupid.

The door remained shut so long that Arthur almost gave up. Clearly Merlin didn’t want to see him. Maybe he was just wasting his time, but he couldn’t leave without at least hearing it from Merlin’s mouth.

At long last, the door cracked open and Merlin appeared, hair mussed and blinking himself awake.

“Arthur?” he asked, rubbing his face and yawning as he opened the door wider to reveal that he was wearing only a thin pair of pajama pants and nothing else.

It was barely six in the afternoon, and Merlin was asleep. Arthur wasn’t sure what that meant, so he held out the flowers from behind his back, watching Merlin blink confusedly.

“Not exactly from thin air, but I gave it a try.”

Merlin’s eyes moved from the flowers to Arthur’s face slowly. He stared for a second before jerking, glancing down at his clothes as Arthur’s gaze flicked down to his chest.

“Oh! I was just taking a nap. Do you want to come in?”

Arthur followed Merlin into the flat, shutting the door. Nothing had changed since the last time he’d been there. Unsure, he set the flowers down on the countertop and turned to Merlin.

“Sorry about the mess,” Merlin said quickly, grabbing a few shirts off the floor and tossing them into the bedroom. “I haven’t really had time to clean since I got back.”

“Got back?” Arthur didn’t know why Merlin was acting nervous when he was the one there to apologize, to admit that he’d been a real prat.

Merlin scrubbed a hand through his hair, making him look even more adorable, if that was possible. Arthur felt his heart throb stupidly. How could one person make him feel this dumb and happy all at the same time?

“I had to go to Rome for a couple weeks for my thesis. Last-minute trip. I just got back.”

“You just got back,” Arthur repeated, and Merlin smiled slightly.

“Are you just repeating everything I’m saying?”

Arthur shook his head sharply. “No. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here? I thought we agreed not to see each other anymore.” The smile vanished from Merlin’s face and he looked sad again. Arthur hated it, hated how his heart contracted at the sight. “It isn’t as if anything has changed.”

“I’m not engaged anymore,” Arthur said simply, watching Merlin’s face, the flash of confusion.

“Y-you’re not?”

“We called it off, me and Elena. I almost got booted out of the company. And all because I met a goofy magician that I can never stop thinking about.”

Merlin didn’t reply immediately, looking as though he was thinking fast. In the corner of the living room, Clyde thumped his cage loudly. 

“You’re not having me on?” he asked finally, and Arthur took a step towards him.

“I swear I’m not. My father even gave us his blessing, sort of.”

Merlin looked as if he didn’t believe that from the eyebrow raise he shot Arthur.

“You are having me on,” he said again, but a tiny smile formed at the corner of his mouth.

“I’m not,” Arthur insisted, reaching for Merlin and sliding his arms around his waist despite Merlin’s skeptically arched eyebrow. “I am telling the one hundred percent truth. You can ask Gwen.”

“I’m not gonna ask Gwen,” he said, rolling his eyes, but he didn’t pull away from Arthur’s grip. Instead, he raised a hand to Arthur’s shoulder, resting it there and letting his eyes scan Arthur’s face and jaw, down to his neck and chest.

Arthur pulled Merlin’s chin up to face him. “I know I can be stubborn sometimes and I don’t always follow my own heart when it comes to business and my father, but you came along at exactly the wrong time and put wrench in all my plans, and I came by to tell you thank you.”

“You did?” Merlin asked, still sounding skeptical, but his voice softened as Arthur’s thumb brushed down his jaw.

“If I hadn’t met you, I’d still be engaged, and I’d spend the rest of my life wishing I had met someone who made me want to change that. How did you do that?”

“Magic,” Merlin replied simply, smiling now. “I used magic.”

“I bet you did.” Arthur grinned, and he kissed Merlin before they could waste any more time bantering.

Merlin’s arms twined around his neck, pulling him in closer, and he felt Merlin’s smile against his lips in between kisses.

“The flowers were a nice touch,” Merlin murmured when they parted for a moment, and Arthur smiled. 

“It was the best I could do without knowing your tricks.”

Merlin chuckled, pressing his mouth to Arthur’s jaw, teeth grazing along the skin. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you all my tricks.”

Arthur groaned, pulling Merlin’s mouth to his and backing him into the bedroom.

“You definitely will,” he said as Merlin fell onto the bed and grinned up at him.

As he stripped off his shirt, Arthur knew that he had made the right decision. Even if marriage wouldn’t be there to strengthen the company, the merger would go through. Morgana would slink back to her home with Cenred to plot something else, and Arthur would have Merlin by his side to see it all through.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just poking in to say hi and hope you enjoyed my first Merlin fic.


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